Thirty Shades of Red
by Natakuu
Summary: Takano Masamune has the power to turn Onodera Ritsu into thirty different shades of red, no matter how desperately the latter tries to deny it. Takano Masamune X Onodera Ritsu
1. Dependence

**Name: **Dependence

**Author:** Healiel

**Pairing: **Onodera Ritsu X Takano Masamune

_Written for the 30Kisses Livejournal Community. Prompt #1: look over here_

**Summary: **Onodera Ritsu doesn't like to be dependent, especially if the other person is Takano Masamune.

**Disclaimer:** _Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi belongs to Nakamura Shungiku and her affiliates._

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><p>Onodera Ritsu was not happy.<p>

His head hurt. There was too much work to finish, and not enough time to do all of it. He touched his head with the palm of his hand, balancing himself against his desk. He was tired. When was the day going to end? He couldn't focus today, not with his head feeling like it was being split apart by a blunt hammer.

He started as someone dropped a huge pile of paper on his desk. His eyes slanted automatically as he slowly turned to look at the person he hated the most at that particular point of time, "Takano-san!" He sighed as he saw that the man had already started to leave.

"Read through those and tell me what you think." he said, turning his head towards Ritsu and smirking.

Ritsu resisted the urge to growl; he touched his forehead and looked at the work piled up on his desk. There was no way he could finish all of this before the night. He placed his head on his desk, sighing as the cool surface of the table made him feel a little better.

He smiled to himself as he felt someone ruffling his hair, it was such a nice feeling. It reminded him of the wind rustling through his hair on a particularly cool spring afternoon.

"You alright?"

The voice jolted him back to reality. He was not supposed to be sleeping at work, he was not supposed to feel sick when the work tower was ready to crush him, and he was _definitely not_ supposed to be smiling when Takano ruffled his hair. He swatted the hand away and scowled.

"I'm fine." He mumbled before looking at the pile of paper he had to study. Well, at least if he finished those first Takano wouldn't bother him anymore. He steeled himself, he had to work, headache be damned.

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><p>Okay, he had overdone it. He sighed as he inserted a few coins into the vending machine, picked out his drink and bent down to collect it. He needed a break, and it would have to be short. Kisa wanted him to get some photocopies done; sometimes he wished that the man would do it himself. He sat down on the couch near the vending machine and popped open his can of coffee, for some reason he felt cold; extremely cold. He could feel himself shiver slightly. He touched his forehead again, was he coming down with something?<p>

"Sleeping again?"

Ritsu scowled and opened his eyes, "I was just getting back to work." He felt extremely angry – not at anyone or anything in particular - he just felt irritable. And Takano's attitude was doing nothing to help. The cocky smile on Takano's face disappeared and was replaced with a look of concern. He paused for a moment and seemed to hesitate. He drew his hands out and back, before finally stretching his hand out towards Ritsu.

What was he doing? Ritsu pushed himself back into the couch until he felt the hardness of the wall on his back, "Wh…?" he asked as he held Takano's hands in both of his, preventing the man from touching him, "What are you doing?" he scowled again.

"Your hands are ice cold." Said Takano as he looked straight into Ritsu's eyes. Ritsu could feel the intense stare of the look and turned a very pale shade of red. Or maybe he was just coming down with something after all. He mentally agreed that that was definitely the case. Onodera Ritsu did not blush.

"Ricchan? Are you done with those photocopies?"

Ritsu jumped slightly at the sound of Kisa's voice and realized that they were in a very public place. Kisa Shouta's head peered out behind the nearest wall. It, however quickly slithered away the moment it met Ritsu's eyes. He hadn't meant to interfere. Ritsu looked at Takano who had gone back to smirking at him. He suppressed another growl before he realized that he was still holding onto Takano's left hand. He quickly brought his hands back to himself, stood up and walked back to his desk as fast as he could, a now lukewarm coffee in one hand.

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><p>Work had ended late for him, but he was thankful that he had enough time to catch the last train out of the station. Or so he had thought.<p>

Ritsu sighed as he realized he had forgotten to bring his umbrella yet again. He looked at the snow falling from where he stood, and wondered whether going home now was a good idea. Maybe he should sit somewhere and wait for a while?

Ritsu slowly turned his head. He was sure something had just poked him from the back. Something long, pointy and blunt. He wasn't sure what was poking him, but he could guess who was holding the object in question. He sighed as he saw the tall figure holding an umbrella out towards him. Yes, it was Takano again. He felt himself turn red when he remembered the last time the two of them had talked; his hand had really been warm. He flipped his head straight and mentally shook his head. There was definitely something wrong with him today.

"Come here." Said Takano as he opened the umbrella. It was definitely not big enough for two people, and Ritsu did not like the idea of squeezing under an umbrella with anyone in public. He rapidly shook his head at Takano, who gave him an annoyed look.

"Fine. Here you go." Said Takano as he handed his umbrella over to Ritsu. Ritsu shook his head even more rapidly. He didn't want to cause any problems for Takano, especially not something that might lead to the man falling sick. He pushed the umbrella back into Takano's hands, slowly turned away from the man and sprinted down the street.

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><p>He hastened his pace. Takano had been keeping a keen eye on him ever since they had left Marukawa Shoten. Takano was definitely concerned about him, and even though he'd never admit it, a part of him felt grateful for that. He was beginning to feel miserable and having even one familiar face around him made him feel much better. He always had been a clingy patient. He didn't get sick very easily, but when he did, he was always confused about what to do with himself. Takano had tried to push him under the umbrella a few times since then, but Ritsu would not relent.<p>

"We're almost there; you don't have to stick so close to me right now." Said Ritsu, looking at Takano from the corner of his eyes. The man didn't answer him back, but he didn't slow down either. He had kept in pace with Ritsu since the beginning, and he would do that right till the time Ritsu walked through his front door.

Ritsu started walking a little faster, he was almost jogging as he entered their building and flung himself at the elevator button, praying it would come down in time so he could make his ascent without Takano's company. His head was really hurting now, and he had been sure that he would definitely pass out at least three times since he left the subway. He did not want Takano to see him like this, it was embarrassing for him. Fate didn't like him that day, and he heard the familiar 'ping' of the elevator reaching the ground floor just as Takano reached the building, closing his umbrella.

He looked at Ritsu once and came to stand next to him. Ritsu looked at him, and he looked back. Neither of them had any expression on their faces. Ritsu's eyes were definitely glazed, Takano noticed as he held his shoulders lightly, pointing him into the elevator. Ritsu tried to shrug him off, but the grip was too tight, "I think you've got a fever."

Ritsu watched as the door to the elevator closed, "Let go of me." He said, pulling away.

Takano looked irritated, "Look here." He said as he leaned in towards Ritsu.

His vision was becoming blurry, his head spun and the last thing he remembered was the surprised look on Takano's face before he fell onto something firm.

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><p><em>The wind blew the stray leaves towards them. He looked at the person he loved, "Saga – sempai." He could feel his cheeks turn red as the boy smiled at him and leaned in. <em>

Ritsu sat up in shock. Was that a nightmare? He touched his cheeks, they felt hot. He groaned as he fell back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, only… He wasn't sure his bed had been positioned here before. He slowly looked around the room, yes; someone had definitely redecorated the entire place. He eyelids felt heavy and he struggled to keep them open. His eyes almost closed again, and he turned in the bed; he could deal with this tomorrow. He was too sleepy right now to care, unless… He sat up again, "Takano." He whispered as he looked for the man anywhere in the room. It was empty. He relaxed momentarily before his mind reeled. Was he in the same bed as him?

He couldn't look, so he felt around the bed. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that he was the only one inon it. He quickly looked at what he was wearing; only his coat and shoes had been taken off. He tried hard to remember what had happened since the elevator but he kept drawing a blank. His watch showed it was three AM. He looked outside the window, cringing as the cold floor touched his already numb feet – what use were socks and blankets in this weather? He hated his feet being cold, but the sight outside the window was enough to take his breath away. The snow fell softly from the sky; it twinkled as it dropped below the streetlamp, giving the impression of light slowly descending on the earth.

A picture frame on the bedside table drew his attention. It was Takano with his cat. The man was smiling, he looked genuinely happy. "Saga." Whispered Ritsu, thinking back to his dream. He picked up the frame and studied the picture, where was Takano now?

There was no way he would leave Ritsu in his apartment and go somewhere, was there? His heart beat fast as he stepped out of the bedroom to look for him. He shielded his eyes at the light in the room. Hadn't Takano gone to sleep? Soft snores drew his attention.

Takano had fallen asleep in front of a pile of paper. His laptop was open in front of him, and he slept on the floor, one hand lazily trailing across the coffee table right next to him. Ritsu felt something nagging at his heart. He wanted to be better than Takano at his work, but the man worked so much harder than him. It bothered him.

Another soft snore drew his thoughts away from work. The man was cuddled under a few blankets, his head resting on the edge of the sofa. Ritsu wondered whether he was cold. He went back inside the bedroom and emerged with the blankets Takano had brought out for him, and a pillow. He carefully placed the man's head on the pillow, all the while hoping that Takano didn't wake up. There was no way he could talk his way out of this one. But Takano didn't wake up, and Ritsu was grateful. He placed the extra blankets on top of the man. He looked at the man softly snoring, and almost smiled. He quickly stopped himself and shook his head; there was no way he was going to smile at a scene right out of some of the corniest romance novels he'd ever read. He looked for his bag, and slowly left the room with his coat and shoes. Takano had done enough for him; he could take care of himself now.

At three- fifteen AM Onodera Ritsu entered his apartment.

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><p>He woke up later that day, and yelped as he saw the time on his watch. It was fFive PM. He'd missed work. He hadn't even called in to inform. What was he going to do? He frantically searched for his phone. Takano had called him; his eyes grew wide as he realized that he had called at least thirty five times.<p>

He checked his mail, there were at least a dozen mails from him, all asking how he was, if he was okay? The second to last one made him smile. Takano had written that he was aware of Ritsu's state and that he shouldn't worry, he would take care of work for the day. The last message however, made him scowl furiously; Takano would apparently be coming over that night to take care of him. He groaned and stuffed himself under his covers.

The next time he woke up, it was Nnine PM. Takano should be coming home right about now, he thought as he tried to sit up. His body felt weak and he gave in, falling back onto his bed. Maybe he should leave a note out saying that he was too sick to open the door? He shook his head, no, that would only make the man even more determined to look after him. Should he call? He picked up his phone, looking at the last mail. No, he couldn't, he did not want to talk to Takano right then. Especially not with his hoarse voice. Should he send a mail? But Takano never checked his mails. He sat up, either way he had to get some medicine for his throat. He should've kept them stocked up at home, but he never got around to it.

He sat up, and slowly slipped on his shoes, looking for his jacket.

He just hoped he would be back before Takano reached - knowing the man, he would probably wait outside his door for him, even if he didn't open the door.

He opened the door and nearly tripped.

He yelled as he felt the person grab on to him, Ritsu opened his eyes to find himself face to face with Takano, "About time you woke up."

Ritsu realized he was sitting on the man's lap and leapt up before walking back into his apartment. He left the door open for Takano to enter, and quickly walked over to his couch. He sat down and started massaging his feet. They were too cold.

Takano came inside and closed the door, "How are you feeling now?"

He groaned in reply and Takano smiled. Ritsu felt someone walking towards him and started shivering again, clenching his feet tighter. He was behaving erratically, he knew it. He always did when he was sick. He pulled up his knees and hid his face in them.

"Look at me." He felt Takano's hands on his hair, trying to lift his head. He felt annoyed. He just wanted to be left alone, "Stop that please."

Takano's voice was soft, "I need to know if you have a fever." He explained.

Ritsu turned his face away and tried to stand up. He was unsteady on his feet and fell into Takano's arms. The man took the opportunity to touch Ritsu's forehead with his own, "You definitely have a…" He stopped short when he saw the glare Ritsu was giving him. He was acting like a big baby by refusing to admit that he was sick. Ritsu pulled himself away from the man and stalked towards his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

He locked the door and sat on the floor, leaning against the door. He had not meant to be rude. His heart beat fast. He would have to apologize; he had just barely glimpsed the hurt look on Takano's face. He hadn't meant to hurt him, why did he always do the exact opposite of what he wanted to?

He heard the man moving around in his apartment. Was he leaving? No, from the direction the footsteps were taking it seemed that he was walking towards his kitchen.

The door to Ritsu's bedroom slowly opened and two curious eyes peered out. He couldn't see anyone so he tip toed out. He dashed towards the couch and hid behind it, looking for Takano.

"What are you doing?" asked a curious voice from behind him. He turned to look and quickly turned his face back, hiding his smile behind his hands.

"Hah. There's nothing funny about this." Said Takano, pointing to the apron he was wearing, "What is funny is that you should be the proud owner of this obviously feminine apron." There was nothing really wrong with the color of the apron, it was plain white. But the frilly cut was something obviously feminine, and Ritsu cursed himself for not being more careful when he was shopping.

Ritsu glared at him, "I don't cook. Someone back at home must've packed that in."

"Likely story." Said Takano, as he walked back to the stove, ladle in hand, "Go back to sleep, I'll wake you up when the food's ready."

"I came to find my thermometer." Said Ritsu, folding his arms across his chest. He was feeling irritated again.

"I wasn't sure you had one so I bought one for you. It's on the table." Takano had his back to him, Ritsu was thankful. It meant he couldn't see the confused stare he was sending the man. He abruptly stood up and stalked back to his bedroom. He was feeling too restless.

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><p>Within minutes he was back outside, a part of him felt ready to pick a fight. There was nothing he wanted to do, and he didn't want to be alone. He walked towards Takano, and stood next to him, peeking curiously into the contents of the pot, "It's instant."<p>

Ritsu gave him a nod, normally he would be eating cold food from the nearest Convenience Store; warm instant soup wasn't such a bad change.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" asked Takano, trying to touch Ritsu's forehead again.

Ritsu didn't fight back this time, the cool touch of Takano's hand on his skin felt good. He closed his eyes and smiled. His head was reeling and he wasn't sure what he was doing. He could feel someone breathing close to him now. The soft breaths danced on his cheek, and it made him feel as if he was wanted, loved even. It wasn't until he felt wet lips on his that he opened his eyes. He pushed Takano hard and fell to the ground, straddling the man and clinging on to his hands desperately.

"Warm." He said, slowly moving his hands over the white apron. He felt strong arms surround him tightly. His breathing hastened, and his hands clenched on to Takano with a ferocity he didn't know he had. He groaned as a white flash of pain seared through his forehead. That damn headache!

Wait. His eyes flew open. What was he doing sprawled on the floor in Takano's arms? He started to struggle, "No." He said as he struggled harder, he was too weak to move.

Takano loosened his grip on Ritsu, "Are you alright?" Ritsu didn't bother to answer him. He mumbled that he would be in his room and quickly left.

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><p>That night he couldn't sleep. Ritsu Onodera liked to believe he was independent. He didn't like it when someone fussed over him, it made him feel embarrassed. Therefore, it stood to reason that he was angry with Takano. He didn't like the fact that the man had come to look after him, he didn't like the fact that the man had cooked for him, forced him to eat, given him medicine and then conveniently fallen asleep next to his bed. He was embarrassed. He closed his eyes, but all he could think of was lying sprawled in Takano's arms in the kitchen, and that served to further worsen his mood.<p>

He sat up and poked at Takano's head. The least he could have done was left him alone for the night. He touched Takano's hair. 'It's so soft.' Or maybe he was just being feverish, but it felt nice to touch. He trailed his hands slowly over Takano's head, brushing his hair this way and that.

"Hmm?" He stopped short when he saw Takano move. The man lifted his head, rubbing his eyes; he looked at Ritsu, "Onodera?"

"Ah…" Ritsu jumped to the other side of the bed, "I couldn't sleep." He finished. He turned his back on Takano and sat there, eyes clenched shut. Please let this just be a bad dream!

He felt Takano climb on to the bed, his heart beat fast again. He gasped as Takano pulled him towards himself. Ritsu stared, wide eyed as Takano held him tightly, "Does your head still hurt?"

Ritsu looked away from him, "Stop. I don't want to be dependent on you."

Takano sounded surprised, "Dependent on me?"

"Even at work, it's always you. You help me out all the time, I can't think of what to do if you aren't there. Now here too, I can take care of myself. I don't need you over my shoulder all the time!" Ritsu's voice sounded frustrated, angry.

Takano sighed and turned Ritsu around, so that he now faced the man, "Are you crazy?"

Ritsu looked at him, a permanent scowl seemingly fixed on his face, "I'm just tired." He snapped. He pushed Takano down on the bed, and moved fast, sliding under his cover.

"Onodera?" Takano asked, looking at Ritsu hiding under the blanket. There was no answer, so he lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"I know you aren't asleep yet." There was no answer, but the figure next to him wriggled ever so slightly. Takano smirked, "I don't know what you meant by saying you're dependent on me. But, thank you."

Ritsu nearly jumped where he lay, he had taken the entire thing in a completely different way. A part of him wanted to jump up and declare that he took all of it back, that he hadn't meant a thing, and another part simply wanted him to lie there quietly. Before he could decide, he felt a hand lift his blanket up. Takano Masamune joined Ritsu under the sheet, not before pulling away the three other blankets on top of the one Ritsu was already under.

Ritsu wanted to complain, but he didn't.

He didn't complain even when it felt like the middle of summer underneath all those blankets, he didn't complain when he finally felt sleepy, he especially didn't complain when Takano snuggled in with him, holding him close. He was supposed to be asleep after all. The next morning, all he had to do was pretend he was feverish and couldn't remember anything. For now, he was happy and content. Even that damn headache looked like it had gone away.

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><p>The next morning, he woke up late. He was going to miss work again, which would've suited him fine had Takano Masamune not decided to stay back with him.<p>

"You need someone to take care of you."

"I'll be fine. Besides, it'll look suspicious if both of us are absent from work,." Shot back Ritsu, trying to push Takano off from his bed. He was feeling a lot better now, and pushing the older man off proved to actually be quite easy.

Takano grabbed Ritsu's hands, "Are you trying to force me to go to work?" he smirked.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do." Replied Ritsu, eyes dead serious.

Takano stopped smiling; instead he suddenly looked very cranky, "Fine." He got up and moved the sheets away. Ritsu shivered at the sudden onslaught of cold air, he quickly grabbed the sheets around himself, "But I'm coming back tonight."

Ritsu didn't reply, he stared at Takano's back as the man got up to leave, "I'll be dressed in a minute."

Takano turned around to look at him, "No, you need rest. I'll explain this at work. Go back to sleep." He smiled and opened the door out of the bedroom.

"Takano-san!" Ritsu called out before he could stop himself. He felt his heart beat fast as Takano turned around to look at him, "Sorry for yesterday." He whispered before hiding his face under he sheets. He hadn't meant to be so irritable; it had made him feel guilty half the night.

He waited to for the noise of the door closing, but it never came. Instead, Takano pulled the sheets away from Ritsu and leant in, planting a firm kiss over his lips. It all happened so fast, that Ritsu barely had any time to think. By the time he sat up, Takano had left the room.

He touched his lips and stared at the door.

He was sure now; there was no way he would admit to being in love with Takano Masamune. He looked at his hands, and a small smile made its way to his lips.

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><p><strong>AN: :p Oi.**


	2. Fear

**Name: **Fear

**Pairing: **Onodera Ritsu X Takano Masamune

**Summary: **The one thing that Takano Masamune was afraid of losing went by the name of Onodera Ritsu

**Disclaimer:** _Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi belongs to Nakamura Shungiku and her affiliates._

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><p>There weren't many things Takano Masamune was scared of, but if really had to consider it, then losing Onodera Ritsu would top that list any day.<p>

The last ten years had been hard on him. It wasn't as if he didn't have a good life, things had started to improve since his parents' divorce – he'd made friends, gotten into a good University, had a stable job – No, it was because he'd always felt that something was missing in his life, something that the brief time he'd spent with Ritsu ten years ago had managed to complete.

He slipped into his shoes and checked his watch. He would be a little late, but that couldn't be helped. He stood up and opened the door to his apartment.

He stopped still as he heard the door next to his close.

Onodera Ritsu walked out of his apartment, waving his keys in his hand. Takano locked the door to his own before turning to see Ritsu quickly leap towards the elevator. He smiled and walked after him, neither of them saying anything.

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><p>Ritsu felt the sudden desire to scream. Why did he have to go to work <em>and <em>go back home with Takano? That was two times more then he ever wanted to spend with the man.

He felt restless. He didn't like riding on elevators, he was convinced that it was dangerous and people could die. The elevator could crash, or worse - he looked at Takano from the corner of his eyes; he was looking at Ritsu again – the elevator could break down and he would be stuck here with Takano for hours on end.

"Could you not do that please?" said Ritsu finally, turning his head the other way, a scowl on his face.

"Hm. What?"

He could _hear_ Takano smirk. It irritated him. He snapped his head towards Takano, "Stop looking at me. And why are you here so early anyway?" He glared.

The elevator reached its destination and Ritsu leapt out of the elevator. That was a stupid question and one he already knew the answer to

"I come here around this time everyday." Takano walked out of the elevator and followed Ritsu, "But I think you would've known that by now."

Ritsu felt his ears go red as he dived towards his desk and brought out the reason he had to come to work early that day. These papers had to be taken to the printers by Seven AM _or else. _He gulped.

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><p>Ritsu winced as a crumpled ball of paper flew from seemingly nowhere and hit him on the head.<p>

"Ah. Sorry Ricchan!" shouted Kisa as he got up from the floor and picked up the paper frpm Ritsu's desk. He then proceeded to collapse on the floor and stare blankly at the final version of the script he had to edit, "Year after year, I'm going to die." He looked abysmally depressed.

Ritsu could relate, he picked up another stack of papers and proceeded to look through it, carefully checking for any leakages, misplaced words and any other mistakes in the manuscript.

_Plonk_

Ritsu looked at the direction the new crumpled ball of paper had come from and stared.

"Sorry." Hatori Yoshiyuki stood up from his seat, bowed slightly in apology to Ritsu, grabbed his jacket and started to leave.

"Hatori! Where's your script?" Ritsu looked as Takano's authoritative voice filled the room. He seemed to be quite at ease.

"The great Yoshikawa Chiharu has just declared that she's sick. I'm going to go get the script." Hatori looked slightly irritated; he started to walk out of the room.

"Hurry up." Shouted Takano before looking through the papers he held in his hand.

He professionally navigated between giving orders and looking through the final edited manuscripts. Ritsu realized that the number of papers on his desk were far greater than those on Takano's. 'He works so hard.' Ritsu would have to do the same; no he _would_ do the same.

_Plonk_

Now he was beginning to get angry.

He looked as Kanade Mino sent him an apologetic smile, "Sorry!"

Ritsu groaned and bent down to pick up the two pieces of paper that had hit him. The one Hatori had aimed randomly opened slightly in his hands, in it, he could read the apologetic message Yoshikawa Chiharu had sent him and it made smile. They were probably really close. He placed both the papers on his desk; he would throw them out later.

_Plonk_

"Takano-san!" Ritsu glared at him. That was no accident, he was sure of it. Not if Takano's smile was anything to go by. He sighed and immersed himself in his papers, ignoring the crumpled balls that hit him at random intervals from all across the room. At one point, he started throwing away useless pages himself. He had to admit, it was actually quite fun.

* * *

><p>If he were in a blinking contest, he would have won hands down at that moment. Ritsu stared at the manuscript in his hand. There was something wrong with it, he knew it. What he didn't know was what was actually wrong with it. He looked at Takano once, and then shook his head. He would not ask for help, he could do this by himself.<p>

He continued to stare. Something would pop out, or so he hoped.

"Here, let me look at that?" A hand inches away from his nose drew his attention to the figure standing next to him. Ritsu wondered when Takano had come so close, but he desperately shook his head when he saw the man was reaching for his manuscript.

Takano looked irritated, "You looked like you needed help."

Ritsu's eyes turned into small slits and he shook his head again, clutching the manuscript tightly.

Takano touched the paper and instantly backed off. He got the sudden impression that a wildcat was glaring up at him.

'_I don't want to be dependent on you.' _He remembered what Ritsu had told him a some time ago.

Takano blinked. So that was what this was about? He sighed and touched Ritsu's head, ruffling his hair slightly before he went back to his desk. If Onodera felt he could handle the problem on his own, then who was he to get in the way?

An hour later Takano jolted upright on his desk as someone placed something on it, _hard._

He looked up, rubbing his eyes to see Ritsu standing there, looking everywhere but at him. Takano had been taking a small nap, having finished all the work he had planned slightly ahead of time. It was better than staring around aimlessly while his fellow editors arranged to get their last few scripts in order.

He looked at the pages on the desk, and recognized them as the one he had seen in Ritsu's hands a while back, "You're done?"

Ritsu shook his head.

Takano smirked, "So you want my help?"

Ritsu made no movement, and stood still as Takano took the pages from his grasp. He would not look at the man, he was sure that he would gloat. He would not look, he would not look; he would not… A small sneeze drew his attention and he looked at Takano. Ritsu glared as he saw the cocky expression on Takano's face. The man was gloating. Ritsu knew he would. He started to leave, but Takano reached out and tugged at the edge of his shirt.

He looked at Ritsu, "Don't you want to know what's wrong with this?"

He looked so serious, Ritsu stopped and nodded.

For the next few minutes he listened attentively as Takano explained what the problem was with the manuscript. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he appreciated Takano's help.

* * *

><p>There were so many people out tonight. Ritsu was glad that work was over. He would finally get a few days of rest, maybe he could even sleep in his bed this time. He looked at his watch, it read Eight PM. He'd been at work a little over twelve hours. Well, year end crunches were always like that.<p>

He touched his neck; it hurt slightly, probably from working in that stiff chair.

"Ah. Sorry." He muttered as he ran into a young couple. The one thing he disliked about taking a walk during Christmas time was the absurd amount of couples that seemed to wander around the streets. Didn't they have something better to do? Didn't they have any work?

He groaned as a young man accidentally elbowed him. He turned to look at the perpetrator, but he was gone. Instead, what caught Ritsu's eyes was a very expensive looking silk shirt that was in the display case, shining brightly under all the lights placed strategically to make it look all that more appealing. It was dark blue, bordering on black and the buttons lining the shirt were of a faint grayish color. 'He would look good in that.'

Eh? Ritsu shook his head madly as images of Takano Masamune in that shirt floated through his head. What was he thinking? Well, Takano's birthday was tomorrow, maybe he should buy him a present? Ritsu couldn't take his eyes off that shirt; he approached the window display and bent down to look at the price. It read 25,000 yen. He balked slightly. He'd heard of expensive clothes before, but that amount for a shirt? Though this shirt might be worth it, he looked at the dark blue piece again. It really was perfect.

Wait. Why was he getting all depressed over a shirt he wanted to buy Takano for his birthday simply because he thought it would look good on the man? He could feel his left eye twitch as he moved away from the display case, turned around and sprinted down the street to the book store that was on the other end.

* * *

><p>Yes, a book store suited him a lot more.<p>

He brushed his hand through the books lining the case; maybe he should buy a few. He didn't have anything to do until New Year anyway, and it had been a while since he'd sat down to just read.

He stopped, heart beating fast. On the other end of the hall, on the special display case lay Akihiko Usami's new book. He controlled his eagerness, and slowly went to pick it up.

No. This was good. His eyes grew wide as he read through a few pages. This new editor, whoever it was that had replaced him, had done a good job. He could sense that he was going to feel de-motivated really soon and placed the book back on the 'Special Display' section. He'd forgotten why he'd switched companies, he gotten so used to working in the Emerald Department that he'd completely forgotten about what his real agenda was. He felt the old feeling of inadequacy kick in and started to leave the store. The last thing he wanted to do was spend the next few days moping over something like this. He looked down at the ground and walked, not caring about anyone around him. They could all crash into him for all he cared.

"Uff." Ritsu stopped as he felt himself crash into someone. He looked up, this man was tall. And pretty, he added to himself. The man was looking at him with a confused expression on his face. The man grunted as someone lightly pushed him aside, "Ricchan?"

"Kisa-san?" Ritsu stared from Kisa to the tall man and back to him. He saw that they were holding hands and gave Kisa a confused look.

Kisa saw where he was looking and yelped, quickly placing his hand inside his jacket, "This is…ah… This is…"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Yukina Kou." The man nodded pleasantly. Ritsu could see Kisa visibly turn pale. He reached out for the name card Yukina held out for him and bowed slightly.

"Ah…" Ritsu fumbled inside his bag for his own name card and finally took it out, handing it to Yukina, "I'm Onodera Ritsu. Nice to meet you too."

Yukina read the card and looked elated, "You work with Kisa-san?" he asked.

Ritsu nodded. By now Kisa was hiding behind Yukina, carefully observing Ritsu. It looked slightly odd.

"It was really a pleasure to meet you." Said Yukina, he seemed genuinely happy. Ritsu was sure the man wanted to continue talking but before he could, Kisa tugged at his jacket, "We're getting late, let's go." He smiled at Ritsu.

"Ah, but…" Yukina started to object but Kisa started to lightly push him.

"Ah, Ricchan." Said Kisa turning to Ritsu, "This is…"

Ritsu shook his head. He could tell what was happening, and Kisa was probably shy about mixing up his private and work life, "Its fine. I have to get going too." He smiled. Kisa sent him a look of relief and Ritsu smiled at him, waving slightly, "Till next year then."

* * *

><p>"Kisa-san, was that necessary?" Yukina sounded disappointed; he had wanted to find out more about his lover through Ritsu.<p>

Kisa nodded, "Yes, yes it was." He looked slightly tensed. He was supposed to tell Ritsu about tomorrow, but he'd completely forgotten in the confusion. He reached for his phone, "The number you are trying to reach is out of…" Kisa hung up; Ritsu must be in the subway. He sighed and quickly started to type a message. This would have to do.

* * *

><p>'What a weird day' thought Ritsu as he crawled under the covers on his bed, "So warm." He smiled as he sunk into his pillow. Tomorrow was Takano's birthday. The man hadn't mentioned it at all this time, but then again neither had Ritsu. Did he have any plans for the next day? Or would he irritate Ritsu early in the morning again?<p>

He felt his eyes close, he really was tired. His mind started to drift. Maybe he should have bought that shirt after all? Within seconds he was asleep.

"_Takano-san!" Ritsu protested as the man climbed into his bed. He tried to push Takano away but the man was too strong for him. He pinned down Ritsu's hands over his head and leaned in to plant a kiss on Ritsu's lips._

_Ritsu closed his eyes and started squirming. He stopped moving as he felt Takano's lips touching his. He automatically opened his mouth. He felt the man's tongue search inside his mouth and shivered slightly. Ritsu groaned. It felt good._

_He tried to pry his hands away, but Takano held him in a tight grasp. _

_Takano pulled away from his mouth, leaving a small trail between Ritsu's mouth and his own. His face was flushed and his lips were wet. His eyes were glazed; he lightly caressed the younger man's face. Ritsu moaned slightly as he looked at Takano's face. His mind had turned blank, he couldn't think. Takano released Ritsu's hands and started to unbutton his shirt._

_Ritsu knew that shirt, it was the dark blue silk shirt he had wanted to buy Takano, "It really suits you after all." He whispered._

_Takano smirked and undid the first button. He opened the shirt slowly, teasingly. Ritsu was getting frustrated, he knew that and it made him feel good. He reached for the last button…_

Rring. Rring.

Ritsu threw his legs in the air and sat up, glaring at his phone. He would kill whoever it was that woke him up, he would kill them slowly and he would enjoy it.

He flipped open the phone, it read 'Takano Masamune'. His mind reeled. This was not funny; Fate was playing a cruel joke on him. Visions of the dream he had last night came to him and he stared at the phone. He had not just woken up from a weird dream involving Takano Masamune to find the same man calling him.

Knock Knock

Bring Bring

If those sounds were anything to go by, he was probably standing outside his door right now, "Does he think this is some kind of yearly ritual?" Ritsu pulled the covers off from him only to yelp. It was too cold.

He glared as the knocks on his door grew louder. He would kill Takano.

Takano was very close to kicking at Ritsu's door but stopped when it opened slightly. Two dangerous eyes peered out. His hair was messy; he was wearing an old shirt and shorts. Even though he was shivering pitifully, Ritsu held his ground, "I'm sorry. I have… something to do today." He proceeded to close the door, but Takano stuck his foot in the crack, wincing at the sudden pain that shot through his body.

Ritsu stopped just in time. The door flew open, "What do you think you're doing?" He demanded as he hugged himself. Damn this man for not even giving him the time to find a jacket.

"Come on. We're going out." Takano reached for Ritsu's hands. They were freezing.

"Excuse me? Like I said, I have something to do." Ritsu looked away from Takano when he said this; he would not make eye contact. The last thing he wanted to do was feel soft for Takano.

Takano reached out and held his hands; Ritsu blushed, his mind going back to his dream. He slowly turned to look at Takano, but the man pulled him and Ritsu fell into him. Takano held him tightly and Ritsu stopped shivering so much, "Feeling better?"

Ritsu jumped and landed inside the door of his apartment, hiding behind the door frame once more, "Absolutely not. Like I said I have…"

Takano cut him off, "Then go get dressed. We'll leave as soon as you're ready."

"Hah?" Ritsu started to protest. He was ready to slam the door, but Takano moved fast this time. The man pushed the door open and walked in. He opened his shoes and walked over to Ritsu's couch, settling down on it and leafing through the book Ritsu had been reading the previous night.

All the while Onodera Ritsu stared. Eventually, when he realized that there was no way Takano would leave him alone, he sighed and strode back to his bedroom – he needed to slip into something warm.

He paused just short of opening the door to his room, Takano was looking at him, he was sure of it. He turned his head to look at the man, "Happy Birthday." He muttered before quickly walking into his room.

What he didn't see before going in was Takano smiling at him. He loved Onodera Ritsu, more than even he would ever care to admit.

* * *

><p>That evening, Onodera Ritsu found himself in the same street he had come to the previous day. Takano had decided to just stay in Ritsu's apartment, but a pleasant day cooped up inside the warmth of Ritsu's home had quickly turned into the search for a small niche bar located somewhere near that street when Mino had called Ritsu to that effect.<p>

"Where are you?" Mino had asked.

"Eh?" Ritsu sat in his couch, watching Takano as he busily moved across the room, picking up Ritsu's dirty clothes by the dozen and trying his hardest to stuff them all in the washing machine. Ritsu couldn't leave the apartment that day; all his clothes were either dirty or wet. When Takano charged him as to why he hadn't cleaned them, he shot back saying that today was supposed to be his day off – how would he know he would need fresh clothes today? Takano had surmised that Ritsu didn't have much of a social life, and that he was completely incapable of taking care of himself.

"Didn't Kisa tell you? We've been waiting for a while now." Mino's voice sounded strained. Ritsu could hear a drunken Kisa loudly talking in the background.

Ritsu felt a darkness creeping in around him, Mino's voice sounded vaguely threatening, "Excuse me, but where exactly am I supposed to be right now?"

He heard Mino sigh as he explained, "We're having a surprise party for Takano-san. I can hear him in the background; can you two please come here soon?"

"Ah." Ritsu looked at Takano, and the man paused where he stood in front of the dryer, to give Ritsu a puzzled look, Ritsu whispered, "Yes?"

He felt the darkness disappear when Mino hung up on the other end. Takano hadn't been joking when he'd warned Ritsu to not make the man angry. He felt mildly sorry for Kisa.

And that was how the pair found themselves wandering the streets at Seven PM that night. Takano had refused to listen to Ritsu complain about his lack of clothes and made him wear some of his own, "They're a bit big for you, but it should do."

Ritsu would never admit it, but they were the most comfortable clothes he had worn in his life. He knew why, but he wouldn't admit it, especially not to himself.

* * *

><p>After calling Hatori on his cell a few dozen times, the pair had finally been able to locate the bar they were supposed to meet in.<p>

Ritsu placed himself opposite Takano, and next to Kisa. The place was lively; he could hear laughter and people loudly talking amongst themselves from the booth next to theirs. It was warm too. He sighed in pleasure as he took a sip of his drink.

"Ricchan?" Ritsu turned his head to face Kisa, "I sent you a mail, I'm sorry if it didn't reach."

Ritsu shook his head, he vaguely remembered reading something to that effect the night before, but it didn't mention anything about a meet up today. Ritsu wasn't sure what surprise he was supposed to remember, maybe they'd discussed it in front of him before and he wasn't paying attention?  
>"How did you know it was my birthday today?" Takano was curious, he didn't talk about his personal life at work and this 'surprise party' had really taken him by surprise. Three pairs of eyes turned to Ritsu and Takano coughed – he should've known.<p>

"Wha-?" Ritsu brought his hands up in defense, "I might've mentioned it." Now that he thought about it, he had. Kisa was talking about all the presents he would have to buy for Christmas when Ritsu had mentioned that Takano was lucky – he got to celebrate both the day before Christmas and Christmas with two sets of presents every year. He looked around the room, to think they'd been able to gather that it was Takano's birthday from just such little information – they really were to be feared.

"Don't worry Ricchan, we asked Yokozawa-san." Kisa smiled brightly.

Yokozawa? Ritsu felt his hands freeze, where was he? Shouldn't he be here? He looked at Takano; the man didn't seem very bothered.

"Ah… Is he… coming?" finished Ritsu. He was still a little intimidated by Yokozawa, a little more than he cared to admit.

Kisa shook his head, "I asked him, but he said he had plans." He shrugged, "Maybe he has a girlfriend." Kisa helpfully supplied. Ritsu looked slightly relieved and went back to his drink, "But if it weren't for Ricchan, we wouldn't have known Takano-san's birthday was around Christmas." Kisa helpfully added as he patted Ritsu on his shoulders.

Ritsu gave him a suspicious look. He was paying far too much attention to Ritsu today. Could it be that he was still thinking about what happened the night before? Ritsu wouldn't talk about it; it really wasn't any of his business. But the flustered Kisa amused him slightly; he hid his face in his sleeves and laughed softly.

"Eeeh? What's so funny?" Kisa wanted to know. Ritsu looked at him and laughed a little louder. He stopped when he felt someone's feet touch his under the table. Ritsu checked under the table and looked up, "Takano-san!"

The man gave him a slightly bored look. He stretched his hand out, "Present?" He asked.

"Eh?" Ritsu didn't have one, "Uh… Aren't you a little too old for presents?" He asked as he took a large swig from his glass, finishing it and looking for a refill.

Takano looked around the table; didn't anyone have a present for him?

"Here." Said Hatori, handing Takano a small gift wrapped package. Kisa and Mino followed suit. Ritsu felt like he stood out like a sore thumb. Quickly downing the glass he held in his hand, he stood up, swaying slightly.

"Onodera!" said Takano, reaching for Ritsu's glass.

"I'll be right back." Said Ritsu, and with that, he turned around and was gone.

* * *

><p>Ritsu held the package in his hand. He had finally gone and bought that shirt, though that meant he'd have to cut back down on his expenses a little for the rest of the month. He saw the color of the shirt through the transparent packet – would Takano like this?<p>

He jumped slightly as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He flipped it open, "Where are you? What do you mean by running off like that?"

"Ahn?" Ritsu was getting irritated. Here he'd rushed off into the depths of the cold winter night to buy a present for Takano, and there he was probably nestled inside that warm booth and yelling at him on the phone, "I was out, I'm going home now."

"Onodera." Takano sounded tired, "Where are you? I'll come pick you up."

"You don't have to." Ritsu shook his head even though Takano couldn't see him. His head felt dizzy and his voice slurred slightly, "I'm going home." He wouldn't give Takano the shirt. Served him right for behaving like that.

"Everyone's leaving anyway." Takano continued, "Where are you?"

Ritsu wondered whether he should answer or not. He looked at his reflection in one of the window displays lining the street, it probably wasn't in his best interest to go back home alone, "I'm coming, wait there." He said before hanging up. It looked like he would have to give Takano his present after all.

* * *

><p>The party had gone on for a few more hours. After hearing Ritsu was coming back, everyone had decided to wait for him and they had started to have so much fun that by the time everyone started leaving, it was well past midnight. The bar was still lively, it was Christmas after all.<p>

"Onodera." Said Takano as helped Ritsu balance on his shoulders. He'd had a bit too much to drink. Ritsu clutched the packet tightly in his hands; he didn't want to give it to Takano in front of so many people.

"Lets go." Said Takano, slowly helping Ritsu to walk.

"That was fun." Slurred Kisa, his head dangling on Mino's arms, "Can't wait for the next birthday!"

Only Hatori seemed mostly unaffected. He had said he would have to go meet with someone after the party and had refused to drink much. Kisa posed a small problem however; no one was sure where he lived. What would they do with him? Mino had said he'd handle it. They departed for the night a little later, a small yet cheerful gathering starting off Christmas for them.

* * *

><p>Takano held a tight grasp on Ritsu as they walked down the streets. They were almost home now, and the younger man was in no position to walk alone.<p>

"Let go of me." He slurred again, irritating Takano. He'd given up on listening to Ritsu's drunken pleas a while back, not that the younger man would remember anything by the next morning.

"Let me… go!" said Ritsu as he pulled himself away from Takano. He lost his grip on Ritsu momentarily and the younger man crashed to the ground, his head lying on the road.

Takano watched helplessly as a car came down the street, the head lights shining on Ritsu's face. The car honked, but it was too late for it to stop.

Ritsu wondered whether he would die. This was really a sad way to go; death really could come at any moment. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was Takano's face as the man desperately called out his name.

* * *

><p><em>'They say you see your life flash before your eyes when you die. I saw Takano Masamune.'<em>

* * *

><p>Ritsu groaned and turned in his bed. He winced as a sharp pain shot up his spine. He reached out and touched his back; a small bruise was forming there. He slowly opened his eyes, where was he? He looked around, he was in his room. Was he … alive?<p>

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" shouted Takano as he poked Ritsu on his forehead, "You could've died."

Ritsu looked up at the man, "I'm alive?" he asked.

"Tch." Takano looked extremely cranky, "Yes. Did you really think I'd let you die like that?"

"What happened?" asked Ritsu, trying to gather his thoughts.

"You fell and passed out. A car was coming but it stopped." Said Takano. He wouldn't tell Ritsu that it was him who'd rushed out and dragged him back to the pavement, just in time for the car to pass. He didn't know why, but it didn't feel right. Not that he had to. Onodera Ritsu remembered his face. All he needed was the right expression on Takano Masamune's face to piece the story together.

"Thank you." He whispered. He was genuinely grateful to the man. He had saved his life after all.

"The car wouldn't have hit you anyway." Smiled Takano, momentarily forgetting his worry.

Where was the shirt? Ritsu searched around for it, he couldn't see it anyway, "Takano-san, do you know what happened to the package I was carrying?" He couldn't have left it in the train, could he?

"You mean this?" Takano searched the room before handing Ritsu the package. It hadn't been damaged, "You kept dropping it so I had to carry it." Takano smirked.

Ritsu didn't notice. He took out the shirt from the packet and gave it to Takano, his head facing the other way.

The man was genuinely surprised, "Is this… for me?"

Ritsu nodded. He felt Takano take the shirt from his hands. Would he like it? He closed his eyes as Takano placed a hand on his head, ruffling his hair, "Thank you."

Ritsu watched as Takano removed his own shirt and started to wear the one he had bought for him, "I like this." He looked at himself in Ritsu's mirror, buttoning the shirt up.

'It really does look good on him.' Smiled Ritsu as he snuggled under the covers.

He heard footsteps rapidly approach and the covers were thrown away viciously, "What makes you think you can sleep now?"

Ritsu felt a sense of dread invade him, "Uh, I just had an accident…" He squirmed as Takano held his hands over his head. He tested the grip, it was tight, there was no way he could break out of it, and especially not the way he was right then. Takano leaned in and placed a firm kiss on Ritsu lips. He straddled the younger man and slowly started unbuttoning his shirt – painfully slowly.

Ritsu remembered this sequence; he'd seen it happen before. This was the same as the dream from last night. He started to protest as Takano leaned in and placed another firm kiss on his lips.

"Takano-san, wait…"

Takano cut him off with another kiss. "No, liste…" Takano kissed him again, taking advantage of the moment to slip his tongue inside Ritsu's mouth.

Onodera Ritsu gave up. The man wasn't listening to him, and it wasn't as if he wanted him to stop anyway.

* * *

><p>There weren't many things Takano Masamune was scared off. He smiled as he saw Ritsu snuggle into Takano's new shirt. Last night, he had been genuinely afraid when he'd seen the car was about to hit Ritsu. He had stopped thinking, all of it had happened so fast – it was a blur. He had grabbed Ritsu and dragged him out of the street. The car too, had tried to swerve. Ritsu probably wouldn't have been hit, but the thought of losing him had made Takano risk his own life.<p>

It wasn't as if he had a bad life – he had a stable job, good friends, nice co-workers who threw parties for him without bothering to check with his plans- what made his life the best was having Onodera Ritsu in his arms.

As he climbed into Ritsu's bed, he felt the younger man move closer to him, holding him tightly. He was going to sleep in today; maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Omake<strong>

* * *

><p>Kisa Shouta turned in his sleep only to find himself face first on the floor.<p>

Where was he? He touched his head and looked around. This was Yukina's apartment. His eyes grew wide – how had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was being at Takano's party.

"Ah. Kisa –san, you're awake?" asked Yukina, coming out from the kitchen, "Right on time too, I was wondering whether you'd sleep through breakfast."

"Ah…" Kisa gave him a depressing smile, "What am I doing here?" He asked.

"Oh? You don't remember? Last night, a co-worker of yours called me to come and pick you up." Yukina smiled before walking back to the kitchen.

Kisa quickly sat up where he fell, "Called you? You mean… Who?" He finished.

"I'm not sure; I think he called himself Mino-san?" Yukina helpfully supplied.

"Mino-san?" Kisa looked aghast, did everyone at work know? Was it Ritsu? Had he actually told someone?

"Is something wrong?" Yukina gave him a worried look.

Kisa shook his head, "How did he get your number?" He had to know!

"I'd called you a few times; I think he just called back. I said I'd take you in. That's about all we talked about though. I had to go out late at night you pick you up." Said Yukina thinking back to what had occurred the night before.

"Ah." Kisa calmed down. He stood up and walked towards Yukina. He closed his eyes and brought Yukina's head down towards his, planting a soft kiss on his lips, "Merry Christmas." He smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Hello everyone! Thank you so much for making the time to read this chapter. I didn't have much time to write it but I definitely had to get it up by today. Also, I need Yukina for a few chapters later on, so I brought him in in this one!

To everyone who's reading this before the 25th - Merry Christmas! And to everyone who's reading it after - advanced Merry Christmas for 2012!

And finally, Happy Birthday Takano Masamune! You make so many lived brighter just by existing on paper!

Also, I hope I can meet everyone again once before the New Year, but I'm not entirely sure if I'll have the time to update next week. In case I don't - Advanced Happy Resolution Filled Spectacular New Year!

Finally reviews make me happy. So if you have time to spare, please leave one? (insert Ritsu eye shift)

(Currently being edited.)


	3. Intentions

**Chapter: **Three

**Status: **3/30

**Summary: **Onodera Ritsu was never really truthful to himself, and he knew knew that better than anyone else.

**Disclaimer: **Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi belongs to Nakamura Shungiku and her affiliates.

**Notes: **This chapter has flashbacks! Why? I'm currently trying to improve and work with them. So, high school Takano - Saga. Why? I just love that name. Muhuhahahahaha! Also, this song was written to SuJu's 'No Other'. So if anyone has the song, it makes great background music. ^_~

* * *

><p>Onodera Ritsu wasn't particularly fond of the rain.<p>

He pulled his jacket tighter around himself as he walked towards his house. A cold breeze was blowing that day, the kind that made you want to crawl under the covers and hibernate. Ritsu was glad that work had ended, and that Takano had left before him. It meant he could peacefully walk home without someone guarding him at every turn of the road. It wasn't as if he'd _tried _to get into an accident. But then again, it wasn't as if Takano was going to listen.

He huffed slightly as he walked up the steps leading out of the Subway, he couldn't wait to go home and just fall asleep. He stopped still, no no no! He couldn't sleep. He'd been having weird dreams about Takano almost regularly since the man's birthday. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if he started having daytime hallucinations of the man at the rate he was thinking of him. Like right now. He could swear he just saw Takano laughing and smiling with the cashier at that Family Convenience Store.

Wait.

Ritsu paused and turned around. He peered in through the display window of the store. Takano _was _standing there laughing and smiling with the attractive cashier. Ritsu felt irritated. Well, if that was how he felt, it was probably good for Ritsu anyway. He growled as he realized he was thumping on the ground as he walked. What was he getting angry about at any rate? He wasn't angry. Of course not, he was just suffering from a lack of sleep.

"Onodera?"

That was Takano's voice. Ritsu turned around and bowed slightly to the man, acknowledging his presence. He then turned around, and ran all the way home.

* * *

><p>Ritsu heaved deeply as he opened the door to his apartment, allowing himself to fall inside. He hadn't run that much in a while, his sides hurt. He felt ever so slightly guilty, he really should reconsider running away from awkward situations were Takano was concerned, but… He covered his face with his hands. It was Takano's fault anyway.<p>

He sat on his knees. He never smiled and laughed with Ritsu that way. He loved him right? So he should be happier around him than some random girl. He breathed in deeply; he was completely out of breath. That was right! If Takano loved him so much, why was he always so serious around him?

Ritsu knew the answer. He also knew that his anger was just a cover up for the feelings he'd kept pent up inside for so long. 'Ah, screw it.' He had better things to do than feel jealous over some girl he didn't know.

He shook his head rapidly. He wasn't jealous, just highly perturbed. Yes, that somehow sounded better. Satisfied, Onodera Ritsu got up and went to get undressed.

"What is it exactly that he sees in this face?" Ritsu's eyebrows twitched as he saw the mess his face had become. His hair was badly disheveled, probably from sleeping on the desk at work so much. A few pimples had started appearing around his neck and the eye bags under his eyes made him feel like a panda. He opened the tap and sighed as he felt the water splashing against his face. He paused for a while as he stared at his reflection. He looked at the water and back at his reflection. He cupped his hands and splashed the water on his hair. Did he still remember how to do it?

During his school days, he would often spend hours in the morning getting his hairstyle perfect. He'd hoped for the longest time that having a really good appearance would help in Takano noticing him… Wait. He shook his head. He had already promised himself that that was an alley he was not going to walk down.

Takano had told him that he loved the person that he was right then. Had he really meant that? Ritsu saw his face scrunch into a frown as he tried to fix his hair.

"Yes!" That was it. This was the hairstyle he had during his schooldays. He stared at his reflection before rapidly shaking his head, messing up his hair even worse than it had been before. He couldn't believe he actually thought up ways to get Takano to notice him!

* * *

><p>Ritsu sat on the floor of the roof of the school building, closing his eyes as the cool breeze drifted past him. He ruffled his hair and sighed, this was his favorite place in the whole building. He unbuttoned his jacket, the chill in the air made him shiver slightly. He took out a cell phone from his shirt pocket – he made a mental note that he needed to find a new place to hide it. He had almost been caught by the Student Council Vice-President that day. He shuddered at the thought of the boy.<p>

He flipped open the cell phone, staring blankly at the wallpaper on the screen. It was a picture of him with some of his classmates. Should he ask? He dreaded to think of what Saga would tell him. He sat up and flipped his cell phone shut. He stretched out his hand above his head and placed them on his hair, flattening it down. Ritsu coughed, clearing his throat, either way, practicing shouldn't hurt.

He stood up and walked to the edge of the rooftop and placed his hands on the grill. He made the 'coolest' expression he could, and tried to grin slyly. He turned his head to the side, "Hey Saga-sempai, want to take a picture with me?" He winked.

No! Ritsu covered his face with his hands as he sunk to the floor. That was terrible… There was no way he could do that! He wanted to scream at his classmates for their terrible advice.

"Girls always go for the 'cool' types." Said one.

"Cool? Devilish is the way to go! Smirk at her, draw her in, be forceful!" Another friend patted him on the back, grinning madly.

Cool? Devilish? He felt like a dried out octopus!

But he would ask Saga either way. He'd made up his mind. He fisted his hands and breathed in deeply. He would practice as long as it took to get it right. _He would definitely have a picture with Saga for his cell phone wallpaper!_

He stood up, scrunching his face into a devilish grin, "So Saga-sempai…" he placed his hands on his chin, trying to look attractive, "What are you doing this evening?" Gah! Now he felt like an old pervert. He pushed his head against the grill, leaning down on it; maybe he should just text him instead.

'_Saga-sempai. Would you like to hang out this evening?'_

Ritsu eyed the text warily. It _looked _normal. Would it do? Okay, so he had a new plan! It was the 'Catch Saga Unaware' plan. He smiled to himself, holding the phone close. He opened one eye as he felt a raindrop on his eyelid. Maybe he should think of another message? It wasn't as if Saga liked to check his mail either way… He would probably just have to ask him in the library. He changed the contents of the message. This one looked more like what a young girlfriend would send to her upper classman boyfriend. At least he thought it was.

'_Saga-sempai. Want to spend a fuuuun evening with me today? (o^-~o)'_

"Ah Ritsu-kun! There you are. The teacher's…" Ritsu's class representative stopped talking, the door held ajar. Her hands slowly fell to her sides.

"Ritsu-kun?" She carefully asked. Before her, in the middle of the rooftop sat a small statue of a boy. His hands were clenched tightly around his phone, and his mouth was open in dismay. The girl could swear that there was an inaudible cry of anguish coming from him.

* * *

><p>Ritsu followed his class representative, the phone still clenched tightly in his hands. He felt as if his whole being was slowly being pulled down into the very core of the planet, and the way he walked did nothing to hide his feelings.<p>

"Ritsu-kun? Are you listening to me? I'm going to have to confiscate your phone. You know you're not allowed to bring it to school!"

He wasn't listening to her. He'd sent it! He had been taken aback when she had opened the door and he'd sent it… He was such as idiot! He should've just stuck to the original draft. He did _not _want Saga to see his attempt at writing a 'cute girlfriend style' mail. He was never going to live this down.

'_You have received one message.'_

Ritsu blinked.

It couldn't be. Not the one time he didn't want the boy to read his message. He shakily reached for the phone and flipped it open, '_? Are you high? Sure. I'm free today.'_

His heart rushed. _He'd read it. _He wasn't sure of what to make of the reply. It would probably be a good idea to never speak of it again. He would avoid Saga till school was over.

"Ritsu-kun! Who're you calling in the middle of the hallway?" The girl turned sharply towards him. Ritsu stared at her. What was she talking about?

"Hello?" That voice… Ritsu turned to his phone. Crap.

"Ah, Saga-sempai! Hahahaha…" He laughed uneasily. This was the worst thing that could've happened! When did he call him? Oh God. He was dead, his perfect world had just rotted and died.

"Un." Ritsu relaxed slightly. He hadn't mentioned the message.

"Ah… Do you want to… eat lunch together?" Ritsu finished, looking befuddled. The student council representative reached for the phone again, "Is that someone from school? Who else has their phone?" From a far distance, Ritsu could hear the anguish of students being assaulted by the Vice President of the Student Council probably because of their beach blonde hairstyles.

"I'll be on the roof!" Ritsu ended the call, not waiting for an answer from Saga.

"Ritsu-kun?" The girl seemed exasperated with him. He nodded shyly at her, "Later. I'll give you my phone tomorrow." He turned around and ran.

* * *

><p>Ritsu clasped his hands tightly as he waited on the roof. He was acting erratically. Saga would probably think he was a complete idiot now, if he didn't already think so. He looked at the sky, it was overcast. This wasn't a good time to have lunch on the roof together.<p>

_Clank_

Ritsu jumped and clutched at his chest. He put on his brightest smile and turned his head, "Ah… Saga-se-sempai!" He laughed slightly.

The boy closed the door behind him, a bored look on his face. He nodded towards Ritsu and walked towards him. Ritsu could hear his heartbeat grow louder with each step the boy took in his direction. By the time he was seated next to Ritsu, he was sure that his heart would explode.

Saga looked at Ritsu and touched his forehead lightly with his own, "Are you sick?"

"Hah! Wh-why would you sa-say that?" Ritsu fumbled with the words, the message was still on his mind.

"You're completely red." Saga had a stoic expression on his face.

'He always looks so troubled.' Ritsu calmed down considerably, "I… uh… Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?" He still had that faraway look in his eyes. Ritsu wondered what he could do to make those eyes completely focus on him. He closed his eyes, and tried to calm his heart down, "Can I…"

_Growl. Growl._

"Huh?" Ritsu looked towards Saga. He'd turned the other way. Was he hiding his face? Ritsu's eyes widened in realization, "Saga-sempai, would you like to have a bit of my lunch?"

Saga turned even redder. Ritsu grinned slightly; he really was cute to look at when he was this flustered. He took his bento out from his bag and opened it. 'Would he mind sharing chopsticks with me?' He pushed the bento towards Saga.

The boy looked at Ritsu. He seemed slightly flummoxed, his shoulders tensed. "For me?"

Ritsu nodded. 'Or not.' Well, he wasn't really hungry anyway.

Saga smiled at him, "You're a really well cared for young man aren't you?" He looked away, the smile gone.

"What?" But Saga didn't answer him. He took a small bite from the bento. Ritsu watched carefully, following his every move.

Saga looked at him and stopped chewing, "Hey, I can't eat if you keep doing that you know."

"Ah! Of course." Ritsu jumped slightly before closing his eyes. It was so hard for him to look away from the older boy. He was so happy right then, he was sure he'd die.

* * *

><p>It was so cold.<p>

Ritsu shivered slightly. This weather was terrible, he missed the warmer days. He rubbed his hands together, glad that he'd brought his gloves. He peeked inside the school gates. Saga hadn't come to the library that day, but he had said that he was free that evening. He was supposed to wait there right?

Ritsu lightly touched his forehead, when it came to Saga- he never knew how to react. He felt the rush of anticipation as he stood there, waiting.

* * *

><p>Damn that Takano for making him wait!<p>

He remembered how cold it was that day. It wasn't much different from today really. Ritsu looked at his cell phone and flipped it open. The wallpaper was just one of the standard ones that came with the phone. He hid his face in his hands at the thought of his school day antics. He felt for the wall nearest to him and punched it, trying to forget the past.

* * *

><p>Takano Masamune was slightly amused.<p>

Lately Ritsu had taken to screaming in frustration whenever he was agitated. He wondered if Ritsu knew Takano could hear him some of the time. Takano was curious though, what was he fretting over this time?

He leaned in towards the walls separating his room from Ritsu's and tried to listen. There was a brief moment of silence followed by a muffled groan. The only word Takano could make out was his own name. He paused and looked at the wall. What was he doing? The wall stared back.

Takano turned around and paced up and down his apartment. He had absolutely nothing to do. He briefly looked at his phone before looking back at the wall. He was just so curious. But no, it would not do to eavesdrop. He calmly picked up his phone and dialed Ritsu's number, "Hello." He sounded unusually calm for someone who was slightly agitated the last time Takano had checked.

"I'm coming over." Takano cautiously waited for the reply.

There was a brief pause before Ritsu replied, "Takano-san! You don't live here but next door you know."

"So?"

He smirked. He was sure he had heard Ritsu growl slightly, "I'm going to sleep now. I'll see you tomorrow then. Good night." Ritsu had hung up.

"Tch." Takano flipped his phone off. He felt slightly lonely today. It wasn't as if Yokozawa would come calling any time soon either. He supposed he ought to grab dinner and go to sleep too.

He shuffled towards his kitchen and opened the refrigerator; it was mostly empty except for old leftovers he was in no mood to eat, "Oh."

There was a time when he was used to taking care if himself, but even then, once upon a time Ritsu had taken care of Takano. Between Ritsu and Yokozawa's interference, he'd forgotten how to look after himself.

* * *

><p>Saga sighed as he closed his book.<p>

He was too hungry to concentrate. He really shouldn't have stayed up late to watch that movie the night before. Because of that he was running late for school in the morning and didn't have time to fix himself lunch. He could barely manage to put out Sorata's food before running out for school.

_Tring. Tring._

He glanced at his phone. A message? He'd just get that later. He got up from his seat and moved to place the book back in the right shelf.

_Tring. Tring._

That phone. Saga quickly picked it up and walked out of the library, doing his best to look as unconcerned as possible. He'd completely forgotten to set it on the silent mode. He should've just left it at home. But then… He sighed. That small boy had a bad habit of sending him texts all day. It irritated him, but at the same time, it made him happy. He felt less lonely? Saga shook his head. Not that it mattered of course.

He quickly walked down the stairs, pausing at a somewhat empty corner. He wanted to see what the text said.

Trying to curb his anticipation, he quickly flipped open his phone. What was he so excited about anyway?

He quickly opened his inbox and clicked on the 'New message' icon. He tapped his feet, waiting for the message to load. Saga Masamune could swear he felt his left eye twitch in a way that had never happened before.

'_Saga-sempai. Want to spend a fuuuun evening with me today? (o^-~o)'_

Saga stared at the text. Was he for real? He covered his mouth as he felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. He leaned against the wall and laughed, hiding his face behind his hands. People weren't supposed to see him like that, but it wasn't like he cared at that point.

"Saga-kun?" He stopped laughing and looked at the girl standing in front of him, a curious look on her face. She was one of his classmates. She had a crush on him, Saga was sure of that. He covered his smiling mouth with one hand and quickly typed a reply on his phone.

"What's so funny?" Great. The girl had brought her friends. Saga felt irritated as the girls surrounded him, barraging him with questions. Why couldn't they see that he didn't want to talk to anyone right then?

He felt his phone vibrate slightly in his hands and quickly went to pick it up before the ring tone started, these girls wouldn't tell anyone he had a phone, but he'd be in big trouble if the Vice President on the other end of the hall saw him with it. The girls took the cue and made to surround him, so that no one outside their little group could see what was happening.

He waited for someone to speak. In the rush, he hadn't seen who was calling him, "Hello?"

"Ah, Saga-sempai! Hahahaha…"

Ritsu? Why was he calling? Saga tried to suppress his smile; he didn't want these girls to come up with any weird ideas over who he was talking with on the phone, "Un."

"Ah… Do you want to… eat lunch together?" Saga opened his mouth to agree, "I'll be on the roof!"

The phone line went dead. Saga stared at the phone. What was that all about?

* * *

><p>Ritsu was sure he'd heard the door next to his apartment click shut. Was Takano going somewhere? He moved towards the window and looked out. Apparently, he was. Ritsu's eyes slanted into small slits. Was he going to see that girl again? He wanted to follow, but he couldn't. Why should he? It was far too beneath his dignity anyway!<p>

Which was why he couldn't entirely explain to himself what he was doing standing outside the Convenience Store in his shorts and with last week's newspaper clutched tightly in his hands, while peering out of the top of it to watch what Takano was doing inside.

"Look Mama." A small girl pointed at him and smiled, "That person looks funny."

'Of course I look funny, _I'm freezing_!' Ritsu turned a deep scarlet; this had been such a stupid idea.

* * *

><p>Takano placed a carton of milk inside his trolley. If Yokozawa wasn't going to be around anymore, he would need to get used to shopping and cooking for himself.<p>

"Is he crazy?" Takano noticed the two old women standing in front of the Yoghurt section, pointing to something outside the store. He followed their gaze and slipped on his trolley, nearly losing control of it. Was that _Onodera? _

The figure had noticed that Takano had seen him. He quickly hid behind the newspaper, his feet shaking miserably.

Takano chuckled. What was he doing? He quickly grabbed the trolley and moved towards the cash counter. He saw one empty and dived towards it. It wouldn't do to leave Ritsu standing alone in the cold for too long. Not this Ritsu anyway.

Ritsu strained to look inside the shop. He'd lost sight of Takano. Where was he? If he had come this far, the least he could do was finish what he'd come to do.

"Onodera." The door to the store opened and Takano walked out, two packets in his hand.

"You came to shop?" Ritsu blurted out without thinking.

"Huh?" Takano had a confused look on his face, "Why else would I come here?"

"But…" Ritsu turned his face away from the man, "I'd already seen you come here before."

"Haah?" Takano gave Ritsu a bewildered look before he realized what he was talking about, "I came to buy alcohol."

"Oh." Ritsu looked irritated. Why would he come to the same store twice? Not that he cared, he made sure to tell himself.

"Come on." Takano reached for his hand and pulled him towards their apartment complex.

"Takano-san! Stop, what are you doing? People are looking." Ritsu was suddenly very aware of his surroundings.

'Not that you cared about that until now.' Takano gave him an irritated look, "Are you trying to kill yourself? Let's get inside."

Ritsu tried to pull away from him. He started to rub his hands together, blowing air from his mouth into them.

Takano smiled, "You know they say…" Ritsu gave him a weird look, "… that if you can keep your hands warm you'll feel less cold."

Ritsu stared at him, "You…" Takano opened the glove from his right hand and handed it to Ritsu.

"What should I do with one gl…" Ritsu's eyes widened as he realized what Takano was getting at, he took the glove and put it on, "Just so you know, this is only because it can't be helped."

'Because you're an idiot.' Takano smiled as he ruffled Ritsu's hair. He'd wanted to do that ever since his school days. He hated the perfect way Ritsu had always styled his hair and wanted to mess it up. He took every chance he could these days, not that his hair needed any more messing up. Takano took Ritsu's left hand in his own and grasped it tightly, smiling when Ritsu turned his head away from him.

"Takano-san." Ritsu looked at his feet, "Thank you."

"Hmm." Takano smiled, "Want to stay for dinner?"

"Only because there's no food left in the house."

Ritsu stifled a growl as he heard Takano's mirthful snort.

* * *

><p>Saga was feeling cold, especially his hands. They felt like they were going to freeze off. It had taken him a while to fend off those girls; he just hoped Ritsu was still waiting for him. Though knowing him, he was probably huddled behind the gates to the school, waiting.<p>

From where he was walking towards the main gate, he could see a small figure wriggle about behind the gate. He almost smiled, _almost. _

As he got closer, he saw the figure rush out to meet him, "Saga-sempai!" Ritsu looked flushed, and Saga could tell that he was cold.

Saga swung his bag over his left shoulder, "I'm sorry I made you wait."

Ritsu shook his head, "No, I just got here myself."

Saga looked at the drenched figure in front of him. 'As if.' He didn't say anything and made to leave the school grounds. Ritsu followed without a word.

They walked quietly. The boy had never asked him where they were going. It was like he had assumed they were going to Saga's house. It made him feel weird, knowing that someone else was so comfortable in that cursed house. To think that someone would actually want to go there; he shuddered slightly at the thought.

"Saga-sempai?" Ritsu asked in a small voice. He rolled the scarf around his head and moved to stay in pace with Saga, the scarf just kept falling off.

"Hmm?" Saga looked at the boy from the corner of his eyes. Compared to him, Saga looked like he was taking a stroll in a desert. He looked like one gigantic blanket. Well, at least he was comfortable.

"Aren't you… Ahh… Aren't you… co-cold?" Ritsu looked like he was. His teeth chattered.

Saga made to walk faster. His house was still quite far away; maybe they should go somewhere else? "Not really."

"But you're shivering." Ritsu pointed out. It irritated Saga. What was he supposed to do about it? Pointing out the obvious was hardly going to change anything. He didn't reply.

"They say…" Ritsu cautiously started, "… if you keep your hands warm, you won't feel as cold."

"So?"

Saga felt Ritsu place something in his hands. It was a glove. He looked at the boy. What was he supposed to do with one glove? He paused and his eyes opened wide as he saw what Ritsu was trying to say. He placed the glove for the left hand on and grasped Ritsu's hand with the other. He was right, it was warm. He smiled.

"Thank you."

"Ah?" Ritsu looked flustered again, "No pro-problem!" He grasped Saga's hands slightly. That was all Saga needed to make up his mind. He pulled the boy a little closer to him and turned at the next corner.

"Huh? Aren't we going to your…?"

"There's a Karaoke place near here." Saga didn't dare look at Ritsu.

"Huh?"

"I'm carrying a spare set of clothes with me…" Saga started.

"Oh."

"… And I like to sing." He finished. Anything to get the boy warm and comfortable.

"Oh!" He was sure the boy was smiling. He turned to look at the boy. He wasn't just smiling; he even had a weird expression on his face.

"Say Saga-sempai…" Ritsu looked at his own feet, "Would you mind taking a picture with me?"

When Saga was sure Ritsu couldn't see his face, he smiled and replied, "I don't mind."

* * *

><p>Ritsu stared at the empty plate in front of him. They had both been quiet throughout dinner, neither knowing what to say. Ritsu especially wanted to put the whole story behind him and objected every time Takano tried to open his mouth.<p>

Ritsu took a sip from his beer and watched Takano do the same. It felt as if they were having an unofficial blinking competition.

Eventually, Takano looked away and took one final swig from him can, "Be right back." He said as he got up and moved towards the bathroom.

It was uncomfortable. Being around Takano was just so uncomfortable. He never knew how to react, or what he should do next. It made him feel all confused. If Ritsu died due to a lack of sleep, he would make sure he wrote a detailed letter pinning Takano to the cause of his death first.

_Hrmmm. Hrmmm. Hrmmm._

Ritsu jumped a little. What was that sound? His eyes turned to Takano's phone on the table. He leaned towards it, trying to look at the Caller ID. Maybe it was someone he knew? He stopped still. It read 'Yokozawa'.

His heart started beating fast; he didn't want Takano to take the call. For a moment, he felt happy that Takano hadn't come back yet. His hands inched towards the phone till they touched.

But it wasn't as if this was his business. He flipped open the phone, should he tell the man that Takano was in the bathroom and would call him later? His eyes strayed upon the picture in the background and stopped. His fingers moved automatically, tracing the outline of the picture. This was… "How many times do I have to call you before you finally pick up?" Crap. Ritsu fumbled with the phone in his hands, he hadn't meant to pick up! 'What should I do? What should I do?' "Hello?"

There was a brief pause before he heard a snort from the other end of the line, "No need to tell him I called." Ritsu blinked. What had just happened? Didn't Yokozawa have some business with Takano? All Ritsu could manage was "Ah."

"Good night." Ritsu heard the sound of a child screaming on the other end, "Good night." He said automatically. The line went dead, Yokozawa had hung up.

Ritsu placed the phone on his lap, staring at the wallpaper. Memories flooded through his mind and his lips moved on their own, "Saga."

"Yes?"

Ritsu turned his head sharply to the left. How long had Takano been there? How much had he seen?

"I… uh…" Ritsu looked from the picture back to Takano and back to the picture, "I…"

Takano placed a hand under Ritsu's chin and leaned in and licked Ritsu's lips.

"Wa-wait! Takano-san, are you drunk?" Takano placed a hand firmly over Ritsu's mouth and pushed him to the floor, climbing on top of him.

Ritsu's muffled screams hung in the air as Takano nipped at the man's neck. The screams slowly turned into moans and Takano smirked, "I'm glad you're spending the night with me."

Ritsu pushed Takano's hands away and gave an agitated groan, "I never said anything about spending the night here…Ah… Takano-san?" The smirk on the older man's face unnerved him. He watched as he leant in and whispered in Ritsu's ear, "Let's have a fuuun night together."

Ritsu protested, turning a brilliant shade of red, "That was an accident! Wait! Wa-wait! Takano-san!"

* * *

><p>And all that while Takano's phone lay on the floor, just outside Ritsu's reach. It was flipped open and the wallpaper was a familiar one, especially to him. It had been the perfect picture they had taken at the karaoke joint that day, years ago. It had taken a few dozen tries and by the end of the day, both of their phones had their memory full.<p>

The picture was slightly dark, the angle was misbalanced. But it was perfect. It was perfect because it was the first picture Ritsu had of the older boy smiling together with him. Ritsu's head was low, as usual, and Saga had placed his hands on the boy's head, as if trying to mess it up. He had a strange smile on his face; Ritsu could never tell what it meant. All he knew was that he loved the picture.

* * *

><p><strong>Omake<strong>

* * *

><p>Yokozawa flipped his phone shut. Well at least someone was taking care of him. He didn't trust Takano alone, not after all these years.<p>

An impending sense of doom hung in the air. He suddenly felt uneasy, as if someone was staring at him from the back. He slowly turned his head, "What?"

Kirishima Zen gave him a lazy smile, "I didn't say anything."

Yokozawa turned back to the bowl on the kitchen counter. He was working on a batter before he'd called Takano's phone, and he needed to finish it before dinnertime.

"I'm still not saying anything." Kirishima helpfully supplied from the back.

"I can hear you not saying anything just fine." Yokozawa felt just ever so slightly awkward.

"Okay, so while you're not hearing me say anything, remember that tonight is going to be _rough._"

Yokozawa flipped around, "What did you say?"

Kirishima got up from his seat, "I didn't say anything remember?" He smiled pleasantly.

Oh no.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Ouch, my back hurts. ;-;

Anyway, I looooooove high school Ritsu - he's just so darn cute gawdamnit! Muhuhahahahahaha! Okay, insane outbursts aside. Thank you for reading. And remember, reviews make me happy! (insert Yokozawa cry for mercy). Also, yes the 'Vice President' thing was definitely a shout out to something. I wonder if anyone can guess what? (insert mischievous smirk).

(Currently being edited.)


	4. Cake

**Chapter: **Four

**Status: **4/30

**Summary: **Onodera Ritsu would eat a pepper cake, even if it was the last thing he ever did!

**Disclaimer: **Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi belongs to Nakamura Shungiku and her affiliates.

* * *

><p>At this point, he was unbearably confused.<p>

Cakes? All he knew was how to eat them. This assignment was not going to be easy. He felt his head spin. He looked as the lead female reached for the pepper and proceeded to add that to the mix. So she was making this cake to prove a point? So maybe… Wait. What kind of cake had pepper in it? He studied the picture in the manuscript. It didn't _look_ that bad, not that he could really judge from a drawn picture. It looked like a simple cake. The female lead in the story had baked it for the cocky tennis team captain; she had spent the whole day in the Home Ec room making it. She had to show him that she could do it! How dare he insult her long time dream of opening a Bakery Club in high school?

"But why pepper?" Ritsu sighed and placed his head on top of the page, burying his face into it. Was it supposed to taste good? He couldn't possibly imagine how. Cakes were supposed to be sweet and creamy. And if you're going to make one for that jerk in your class who thinks the entire concept of a 'Bakery Club' sucks for reasons completely unknown to Ritsu, the least you could do was make one that wasn't quite so unconventional.

"Hah! If you want to sleep you should go home."

Ritsu felt his fingers clench into a fist as he raised his head from the table, "I'm _not _sleeping Takano-san." He said while glaring hard at the phone in front of him. Should he call the author and ask? Pepper cake? Really?

"Onodera?" Ritsu felt someone breathing down his neck and snapped his head to the left, "Takano-san"

The older man smirked at him, "What is it?" He pointed the folded paper in his hand towards Ritsu's manuscript, "Problem?"

Ritsu looked at the manuscript Takano was pointing towards and quickly jumped on top it, covering it from the man's sight completely. This was his job. He was going to do it! He had promised himself that he wouldn't ask for Takano's help this time! And on top of that, the issue was too trivial to bring to the editor-in-chief's notice anyway.

"I can do it by myself." Said Ritsu, staring defiantly at his boss.

"Oh." Said Takano before turning around and walking to his desk, "Just ask me if you ne…"

"I don't." glared Ritsu from where he half-lay on his work table.

"…need anything."

* * *

><p>Ritsu stared at all the cakes in the display case before him.<p>

Every single cake he'd ever heard of in his whole life was right there. Mont-Blancs, shortcakes in flavors he didn't know existed, castellas, souffles, pastries, cheesecakes, fruitcakes, parfaits… He could go on, but he doubted he could name them all at once. It was one of the best Pastry shops in this part of the city. But there was no pepper cake.

"We don't have that." Said the girl behind the counter with one eyebrow cocked, "Pepper cake?"

Ritsu nodded, "Do you have anything close to it?" Inside, he was fuming. This irritated him far too much for his liking. What was this pepper cake? Should he leave it in the script? Or should he ask the mangaka to change it? Gah! Why didn't these people store it?

Just because it sounded abnormal didn't mean it had to taste bad too! He had to know! He had to know whether he could leave it in the script or not.

A part of him screamed that it was a small issue and that he should just leave it as it is. It was the author's discretion after all. But another part screamed bloody murder. Like hell he was going to let something this small get in the way of understanding what the lead female was thinking! He would make the perfect book and Takano would have to take back his cocky words. Who exactly was bad at feeling the depth of a character's emotions?

* * *

><p><em>One week ago.<em>

* * *

><p>Ritsu furrowed his brows, "I really don't think this is necessary." Said Ritsu, pointing to the left corner of the manuscript, "It's already been established that she loves the transfer student, I think using three extra panels to emphasize that is excessive."<p>

"Are you serious?" The harsh voice Takano used made him flinch, "This isn't just for filling in the panels. You need to show the readers just how far she'll go to have him. You need these panels to prove that."

Ritsu wasn't sure how to respond. He wasn't feeling entirely agreeable with what Takano had to say, "I understand that, but…" He pointed to the top-left panel in the page he was holding, "Isn't that already established here? Why does there have to be so many panels hinting at the same thing?"

"This panel alone is insufficient." Takano placed his hand on the three panels in question, "Without these, her feelings won't come through so well. Look at this one." He pointed at the one next to the top-left panel, it was that of the girl clenching her heart tightly, her love interest's picture held in one hand, "This shows that she's no longer willing to give up…"

Ritsu continued to listen, but his mind wasn't entirely in it. He firmly believed that one did not need four panels simply to decide that they were in love. Either you were, or you weren't in love. Make up your mind. Who'd want to sit down and read a whole page dedicated to a love sermon anyway?

He read the first line on the page, the one Takano had just been talking about. It read 'I can't forget you, I can't forget our moments together, I won't let you forget me.' Ritsu couldn't understand what was wrong with this girl. Hadn't this guy just miserably ditched her to go and become a rock star? What was she doing still pining over him? She should be thinking of kicking his sorry…

"Onodera!"

"Huh?" Ritsu blinked before focusing his eyes on Takano. Crap. He'd lost focus.

Takano sighed, an irritated frown on his face, "It's like you don't even understand what this character is going through."

"Eh? No I…"

"You can't get this right until you do. Try to empathize with her!"

"I am…" Ritsu was beginning to feel angry. Everyone had different ideas when it came to these sorts of things. Did Takano expect everyone to believe in the same things he did?

Takano sighed, and handed the script back to the younger man, "This is fine. But don't cancel those panels."

"I still think I need to…" But the look Takano gave him made him stop. Was he really wrong? It wasn't like Takano to be so adamant about changes, at least not to him. However, Ritsu still couldn't bring himself to agree with Takano. But he supposed he would leave it to the man's judgment, this time. It wasn't as if he had a choice.

What had irked him the most was when Takano had claimed Ritsu couldn't understand what the character was going through. This was the first time he'd heard someone say that to him. He'd worked on plenty of manuscripts before, this was the first time a situation as conflicting as this had come up. Was Takano suggesting that he couldn't decide for himself? What else would undermining the most important change he'd made in the manuscript mean?

He suppressed a growl and made his way to his desk. He'd show that man.

* * *

><p>Present Day<p>

* * *

><p>The bag was heavy. Apparently they had quite a few cakes 'close' to the one he was looking for. He groaned as he leaned against the door to his apartment, had he just been tricked? He hoped not. Either way, he had enough cake now to last him for a few days.<p>

He made his way to the nearest table he could find and placed the bag with the pastries on it, and he flipped open his phone. He thought he'd felt it vibrate a few times since he'd left work, but he'd been too preoccupied to pay any attention to it.

There were five missed calls from his mother and one unread message. The message was from Takano, and it read, 'Where are you?'

He jumped slightly when he felt the phone vibrate in his hands. It was Takano this time. He stared at the phone and wondered what he should do, and it wasn't until he heard the doorbell ring that he decided.

"Hello Takano-san." He tried to make his voice sound as cold as possible.

"Open the door." The reply was short, but he was sure he could hear the man chuckle on the other end.

Ritsu opened the door just enough to poke his head out, the cell phone was still pressed to the side of his head, "Yes?"

Takano pointed to the packet he was carrying, it was filled with beer cans and convenience store food.

Ritsu looked from the packet and back to the man, "No thank you." He said before trying to close the door, "I'm busy today!" He said as he tried to push the door close. He wondered whether Takano was actually getting accustomed to him shutting the door on him, his reflexes had improved a lot since the first time he'd tried to barge in.

He groaned and tried to push the door shut, the bag filled with cakes on the nearest table giving him further motivation for closing it. The pepper cake! Wait…

He moved away from the door and watched as Takano almost stumbled into the room. Obviously, he had thought that the fight would be a little more prolonged.

Ritsu leaned against the wall, panting, "Pepper cake."

Takano looked slightly confused, "Pepper cake?"

* * *

><p>They sat facing each other in the living room. Takano was sipping from his third can of beer, and Ritsu was absentmindedly poking the Mont Blanc on his plate with a fork.<p>

"Pepper Cake?" Takano smirked.

Ritsu felt a growing sense of irritation well up inside him. Why did he have to look so smug? "I don't know all the cakes…"

"And you need to know because of the manuscript?"

Ritsu nodded. He stopped and started staring at his fork when he heard Takano laugh. What was so funny? Wasn't he the one who'd suggested he ought to try to understand the characters better?

"You took me really seriously." Takano leaned back and balanced himself on his hands, the feel of the cool floor beneath him made him feel comfortable, "But that isn't a bad thing, I like that about you."

"Oh." Ritsu could feel his face contorting into a small frown.

"So, did you find the Pepper Cake?"

"No…" He sounded disappointed now, and slightly embarrassed.

"Then, shall we make some?" Takano smirked, and winked at the younger man.

"Hah? Ma-make?" Ritsu was astonished, that had come right out of the blue. They were going to bake a cake now? "Maybe tomorrow? You need to go home now and…"

Takano snorted. It was enough to make Ritsu stop talking and start fuming. He quickly kept the dessert fork he was holding on the plate, lest he accidentally stab the man with it. Not that the idea didn't entice him ever so slightly.

"Are you serious about this or not?" Takano sounded like was challenging him! How dare…

Ritsu glared back, a sudden burst of energy taking all his drowsiness away, "Of course I'm serious!"

"Then what is it? You think you can't do it?"

Ritsu slapped his hands down on the table in front of him, "Of course I can! Pepper Cake, Eggplant Cake, I can ever bake you a Coffee Cake right here right now!"

"Coffee Cake? That doesn't sound too bad." Takano smiled at him, amused by his reaction.

"Takano-san!" Ritsu glared back, "What do I need in order to make a Pepper Cake?"

"Yokozawa." The answer was short and simple, but that single word sent chills down Ritsu's spine. Takano saw was the man sit down on his side of the table, and stare at him with eyes filled with despair. Takano thought this was taking things a little too far. It was only Yokozawa after all, and knowing how he'd been acting recently, it was a safe bet to say he wouldn't even pick up Takano's call.

"Yokozawa-san?" Ritsu whispered, "Why do we need him?"

"He can cook." Finished Takano, "And he bakes good cakes."

Takano reached for his phone and started flipping through his address book. Upon seeing this, the younger man snapped out of his trance and almost jumped on top of the table, "Takano-san! We can call him tomorrow! Or tell him at work tomorrow! It's past twelve tonight, we'd just be bothering him." With any luck, Ritsu hoped that all of this would be forgotten by the next day.

"Tch. Wait." Takano motioned for him to sit down, "Ah? You picked up? Listen do you know how to bake a Pepper Cake?"

Ritsu groaned and shoved his fork into his Mont Blanc. Damn everything, he was going to go eat cake.

* * *

><p>The Next Day<p>

* * *

><p>Ritsu dreaded the idea of waking up, maybe he could call in sick? But Takano already knew what was bothering him. And Yokozawa had said that he wouldn't mind helping… If only Takano had mentioned that they would be working in Ritsu's house.<p>

He breathed in deeply, trying to calm his nerves. Yokozawa had been nothing but cordial to him the last few times they had met at Marukawa, but he still felt bothered by the man. It was mostly because he was angry with himself, for not standing up to the man when he could. But then again, what was he supposed to do? Get into a public fight? Either way, those memories hadn't been pleasant.

He dragged his feet and walked towards the elevator, a cheerful Takano in tow.

"Do you really want to eat Yokozawa-san's Pepper Cake this bad?" Ritsu turned around to ask him.

"His cake? No, he said he'd make you bake one."

"Oh." Ritsu turned around with a nonchalant look on his face. As soon as he was sure Takano couldn't see him anymore, the nonchalant expression faded and was replaced by one of panic, make him bake one? As in he would teach him? Ritsu felt the sudden need to bash his head against something. He looked at the door to the elevator with adoring eyes and quickly walked over to it. He placed his hands on the door, and stared at the elevator, waiting for it to come down.

He wouldn't look away from the door until he felt large hands entwine their fingers in his hair, "Does he still bother you?"

"Ah! No." Ritsu jumped headfirst into the elevator as soon as it reached its destination.

"Uff!"

Ritsu was sure he wasn't supposed to land on anything soft. Floors were supposed to be hard weren't they? So what was this… He stared up to see a very disgruntled Yokozawa looking at him as if he had just grown thirty heads, and maybe a few tails or two for added effect.

Was this normal? That the moment you think about someone and they just appear… No. If that was the case, life would have been much easier for him.

"Onodera!" Ritsu yelped as he felt strong arms pulling him back into what appeared to be another person's body.

"Masamune." Yokozawa had gathered himself, but he still kept sending Ritsu slightly strange expressions, "About the call last night."

"You'll help Onodera bake that cake, right?"

"No…" Ritsu felt as if he could breathe, "I have something to do…"

"Eh? But last night you said you were free." Takano frowned.

Yokozawa stared from Ritsu to Takano and back to the younger man, he wasn't sure what to say, "Last minute plans." He finished.

Takano gave him a weird look, "Oh?"

Yokozawa moved past the pair and out into the hallway. Ritsu was sure that he had, just for a split second seen something in Yokozawa's eyes that made him feel sad. What was it?

"I'll meet you here after work. Don't leave first." Takano called after him, and finally removed his finger from the button to keep the elevator door open.

"Hah!" Came the retort from Yokozawa as he disappeared behind the slowly closing doors.

Ritsu stared after the man. Hadn't Takano seen that? He was sure Yokozawa looked… strange. For that split second, Ritsu felt that he did not really know why the man did what he did.

* * *

><p>Ritsu spent the day trying to finish his work as quickly as possible. He was wary, extremely wary. The way Takano casually went about his work and thought nothing of how Yokozawa had said that he wouldn't be able to make it convinced Ritsu that Takano was a hundred percent certain that things would go the way he wanted them to.<p>

All Ritsu could do now was finish his work as quickly as possible and find some place to sleep over. He was sure that if he decided to go home, Takano would find some way of coming in, and this time he would come with Yokozawa in tow.

Everything would have been fine, he felt, had Takano not caught on to his plan and kept an extremely close eye on him all day.

"Takano-san, do you have to follow me?" Ritsu turned his head to face the man, a tired and exasperated look in his eyes.

"I'm not following you, we're both supposed to meet Yokozawa now." He slung his bag over one shoulder and started keeping pace with Ritsu. The younger man had a bad habit of sprinting away if the situation called for it.

"He said he couldn't come." Said Ritsu while eyeing the floor with special interest. He prayed he was right.

"He'll come." Takano smirked.

"Why are you so sure of that?"

"Because that's the sort of person he is."

Ritsu wasn't entirely sure what that was supposed to mean. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he knew very little of the relationship between Takano and Yokozawa beyond what they had told him.

"You're late." A deep voice drew his attention to the door leading out of the building, and just like Takano had said, there stood Yokozawa, calmly waiting for them.

"Yeah?" asked Takano as he pulled a disturbed Ritsu towards the man. The time had finally come to make that Pepper Cake!

* * *

><p>What did Yokozawa like? Tea? Coffee? Juice? Beer? Ritsu wasn't sure what to serve the man, and the silence in the room was unbearable. Takano had left to answer an urgent phone call leaving Ritsu and Yokozawa in an uncomfortable silence in the younger man's apartment. Ritsu felt strange, Yokozawa was a guest – so he should be acting like a host, shouldn't he? But his mind had gone blank, and Yokozawa's obviously uncomfortable posture was doing nothing to help, "Do you want a cushion?"<p>

Yokozawa blinked, he wasn't sure where that had come from, "A cushion?"

Ritsu waved his arms frantically, "I mean, you look uncomfortable and I was wondering if you had problems with sitting on the floor, I know my floor's a little too hard! I do it all the time, so sitting on the couch feels strange when I'm at home. But you can sit on the couch if you want to, and if you want to sit on the floor but feel uncomfortable about it, then I can give you a cushion." He inhaled deeply, "That's why I was asking if you needed a cushion."

The way Yokozawa was staring at him made him uncomfortable, "I'm fine." The man finally replied. He was Japanese after all, sitting on the floor wasn't really a problem for him. Though, he looked around the room, he wondered how Onodera survived in this place. The room looked unkempt, and it was obvious that Onodera had done a last minute quick brush over off the room before he had finally allowed Yokozawa and Takano to come inside. He could sympathize with the man though, what with their hectic schedules, even he would choose an extra hour of sleep over cleaning his room. If only his personality allowed it.

Ritsu wanted to hide under the blankets on his bed. He couldn't wait for this to be over.

"Why do you want to know what a Pepper Cake is?"

The younger man started, he hadn't expected Yokozawa to actually attempt to have a conversation with him, "Ah... Manga." He finished.

He sat up straight and placed his hands on his knees, his mouth changed into a serious look, "I need to know what it is so I can better understand a character. If you can, "He lowered his head, "please help."

"A character?" Yokozawa blinked slowly, "Well… I can't say I'm unimpressed."

"Really?" Ritsu's head shot up. The older man was sitting there with a contemplative frown on his face. Maybe he wasn't so hard to get along with?

"But I don't know what a Pepper Cake is myself. Do you have the manuscript?" he asked.

Ritsu nodded before standing up to go and fetch the manuscript. Since he wasn't sure how he should act, he felt that no harm could come out of letting Yokozawa follow through at his own pace.

* * *

><p>After three hours, Onodera Ritsu had come to the conclusion that Yokozawa Takafumi was a meticulous worker. He had spent a little over an hour coming up with different combinations for the cake based on what was given in the manuscript, and Ritsu was beginning to feel that making the cake wasn't going to be impossible after all.<p>

"Have you asked the author?" Yokozawa had asked at one point of time.

Ritsu had shook his head, would he have to? He didn't want to disturb her unless he absolutely needed to. That, and he wasn't sure if the plot point was important enough to talk to her about.

But Yokozawa had agreed with Ritsu that the choice of cake was slightly unconventional. Upon calling up the author, they came to find out that it was a family recipe used for generations, and a childhood favorite of hers. She was a bit unsure about using it in the manuscript, but her gut had told her to go with it and she had decided to trust it.

Would they like the recipe? Or should she change the part about the cake after all?

"Ah, no. That's okay. The recipe would be fine."

As Ritsu started to write the recipe for Pepper Cake, he started matching the ingredients with what Yokozawa had come up with. To his surprise, most of the ingredients save a few were the same. When Takano had mentioned that Yokozawa was a good cook, Ritsu had assumed that that was in comparison to himself, but now he saw that Takano hadn't been joking.

Yokozawa smirked when he saw Ritsu comparing the lists, but he didn't say anything. The embarrassed blush on Ritsu's face when he saw the man watching his every move was more than amusing the older man.

Within the next hour, all the materials were gathered and Ritsu stood in front of a baking bowl, staring at the contents he would now have to mix together.

The younger man fidgeted with his apron, when was Takano going to come back? Was he stuck looking through something at the last minute? He tugged at the edge of his apron, and ignored the cocky snort Yokozawa sent his way, "You have strange taste in aprons."

"It wasn't me. Someone packed it in." Ritsu snapped his head towards the man standing next to him and glared, he stopped glaring just as soon as he had started. He had almost thought for a second that the comment had come from Takano. In some ways, Ritsu felt, the two of them were quite alike.

* * *

><p>An Hour Later<p>

* * *

><p>When Takano Masamune finally returned to the apartment, what he saw made him smile.<p>

Ritsu was kneeling down in front of the oven, an excited smile on his face, and Yokozawa was sitting on the floor next to him, a worried expression on his face.

"Uwaa! It looks good." Ritsu smiled and turned to Yokozawa, the man smiled faintly back at him. He wasn't sure how the cake would turn out, and he was interested enough to try again and again till he got it right. That, and it was getting late. He hoped Kirishima wouldn't mind – he had called earlier in the evening and Kirishima had said it was fine. He had also asked Yokozawa to bring a bit of the cake back home.

And here lay Yokozawa's main problem. He wanted to make something that both Kirishima and Hiyo would love, and he felt unsure about the cake till it turned out fine. Onodera had turned out to be much better in the kitchen than he had expected the man to be.

Upon being asked, Onodera had explained that he had learned watching his mother cook. It had taken everything Yokozawa had to not smile at still felt slightly uncomfortable around the young man, but the evening hadn't been altogether unpleasant.

Between the two of them, they had felt as if they were overcoming something between themselves. The end result was something they would still have to strive for, should they want to reach it. But for now, this was fine.

"Ah, Takano-san!" Ritsu's eyes caught the man standing near the doorway, and he waved. He was just in time, to eat the cake that is.

"Masamune, you're late." Yokozawa snapped his head towards him and glared.

Takano simply smiled at both of them.

* * *

><p>"Please take your time returning it." Said Ritsu as he escorted Yokozawa towards the elevator. The author had been right, the cake had tasted good. It had an unfamiliar texture to it, but the pepper hadn't affected the taste of the cake.<p>

When Yokozawa had asked if he could take a little home with him, Ritsu had been happy to oblige. The older man had even told him that there wasn't any particular reason to escort him to the elevator, since he had been in the building plenty of times before and knew his way around. Ritsu had however, insisted. He felt it was his duty to escort his guest as far as he could.

By the time he returned, Takano was poking the last of the cake with a fork. Upon seeing Ritsu, he smirked, "How did you like the Pepper Cake?"

"It was good." Ritsu coughed at how obviously drunk Takano was. Now that all that was over, he realized that he hadn't hated the evening as much as he had thought he would. Yokozawa was a good teacher, and he had taken his job seriously. The fact that Ritsu had been eager to learn had only fuelled them further towards making the cake.

As far as Takano was concerned, he knew he was being selfish. He was aware that Ritsu and Yokozawa couldn't get along for obvious reasons, but he still felt that he couldn't do without either of them. Ritsu was the person he loved the most, and Yokozawa was his best friend. It would be a lie to say that he hadn't ever hoped that the two of them would get along, but he had always known that there was little he, or they could do about it.

But seeing the two of them getting along, even for a few hours had made him happy. But he wouldn't ask either of them about the other. He wasn't sure if Yokozawa would even pick up his phone anytime soon, but it had felt good to spend the evening with the two people he cared about the most.

And there was nothing that could change that feeling.

* * *

><p>"Takano-san, why would you carve the cake into the shape of a mouth?" Ritsu cocked his head to one side and eyed the piece of cake sitting harmlessly on the table in front of him warily. Takano, had as usual decided to stay over at Ritsu's place for the day.<p>

Not that Ritsu minded, he was used to it by now, and even though he probably wouldn't admit it aloud for a long time to come, he enjoyed spending time with the man.

"Lips." Said Takano, pointing the fork towards Ritsu's lips.

"Eh?"

"I carved it into the shape of your lips." Takano smirked again.

"That doesn't look anything like my…" Now that Takano had mentioned that the piece looked like his lips, Ritsu suddenly felt self-conscious. If he thought about it carefully, that piece could even be a fish. Did his mouth really look like that? And what was Takano doing bring that thing near his mouth?

Ritsu stared in despair as Takano pushed the piece of cake on top of Ritsu's mouth, "Now that is you, kissing yourself." Takano chuckled a little and placed his head on the table.

Ritsu brought the hand down to the table and sighed, "Takano-san, you've drunk a litle too much."

But Takano didn't answer, and Ritsu didn't expect him to. He had seen how the man had been smiling while the three of them sat together and ate the cake. And he was sure he knew what was going through the Takano's head. He gently placed a hand on top of Takano's hair, and leaned down to place a soft kiss on his forehead. He then looked at the crush remnants of his 'lips' and sighed, seeing Takano so drunk was actually quite amusing.

* * *

><p>Omake<p>

* * *

><p>Yokozawa was a happy man. Both Hiyo and Kirishima had loved the cake.<p>

In fact, Hiyo had already made him promise to bake her another when he could. He wondered is he should tell Onodera to inform the author that her cake had been a huge hit.

But now lay the dangerous part. With Hiyo in bed and Kirishima eyeing him lazily, Yokozawa decided to tell Kirishima what he had been hiding, "Masamu… Takano was there too."

Kirishima winked at him lazily, "I know."

Yokozawa was slightly taken aback, "You did?"

Kirishima nodded, "I could tell."

And that was all Yokozawa needed to hear, he felt relieved that Kirishima could read him so well, and that for whatever odd reason, he suddenly felt that he was at the right place right then.

That night, he let Kirishima have his way. He was tired, but he wanted to be with the man more than anything right then. Not that he would say it out loud of course. Some things were better understood without words.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes: <strong>Before I say anything else, yes that was a shout out to KjnK. _ Haha, I'm really glad someone got it. (hands out cookie)

Now, on a slightly more serious note... Firstly, I am so sorry for the late update! (bows) But things turned extremely sour over the last few months. First I sprained my hand, and the moment that started to heal I fell down the stairs. _ I can't believe I'm so accident prone. Heehee. So, I've been pretty much sick throughout. Currently, I'm into my third day of an insane fever. _ I need to go the clinic tomorrow I think. Haha. Either way, ramblings aside. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I suddenly woke up and realized that I had crossed the deadline on the LJ community, and quickly wrote this chapter. I figured since a fever was the least of all the evils over the past month, I could somehow manage to put this up. :D I will try to be on time next time and go back to weekly updates though.

Ah, and I actually did try making a Pepper Cake for this chapter. It turned out terrible till I got help. The seventh one tasted good though. Heehee. :)

Also, if you notice some mistakes you would like to point out to me, please PM me and I will edit it as soon as I get home from the clinic. ^_^ I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review, they are like the pepper to my cake, the Ritsu to my Takano, the SiH to my life, the ... Okay, I'll stop now. XD But seriously, please leave one. They're all that made me go through with this chapter. So thank you everyone! ^O^ (insert dancing cake Lips).


	5. Thoughts

**Disclaimer: **Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi belongs to Nakamura Shungiku and her affiliates.

Hello! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

><p>Takano groaned as Ritsu's full weight fell on top of him. He tried to balance the man next to him, but the man started to mumble words he couldn't hear under his breath and pinched Takano's arm, hard.<p>

"Tch." Takano helped Ritsu to lean against him and made him walk down the last few steps to their apartment. Amusing or not, he would not let Ritsu get drunk during their small Emerald after-work gatherings in the future.

"Takano-san." The older man turned his head, and flinched as a finger poked him right on the nose. He held himself in check; it wasn't like him to lose his temper, especially not in public, and especially not towards Ritsu. But there was just so much he could take of pokes, pinches and the random attempt to trip him.

"No." said Ritsu as he tried to pry himself free from Takano's grasp.

Takano sighed, "No what?" Maybe he shouldn't have drunk that much himself. It was slightly irresponsible, on both their parts. He dragged Ritsu and moved towards the elevator, one hand outstretched so he could press the button to bring the elevator down.

"I don't want to go home." Said Ritsu, his eyes almost closing. His head lolled slightly down and Takano shook him, "Oy! Get a grip on yourself. We're almost there."

Ritsu opened his eyes, "I want to drink more…" He said as his eyes closed again.

Takano was grateful that the elevator door had opened. He inhaled deeply, and picked Ritsu up. He would probably try to kill the man if he found out that Takano had carried him all the way to his room. But right then, Takano could care less.

* * *

><p>Ritsu watched Takano curiously as the man furiously searched through his bag. He felt like giggling, but a small part of him felt that that wouldn't be very manly. So he chose to laugh silently instead.<p>

He stopped and looked as serious as he could when he saw that Takano was looking at him, "Do you even want to go home?" The man asked.

Ritsu gave him a slightly confused smile, hadn't he already said that he didn't want to? He yawned. Either way, he was sleepy now. He sighed and hugged himself close before sitting down on the floor. Takano was so funny! Looking through Ritsu's bag to try and find his keys when Ritsu had already hidden them inside his coat pocket.

Hah! Served that man right for bullying him that morning. He didn't like having paper wads thrown at his head. Wouldn't a simple, 'Onodera!' have sufficed? Okay, so maybe he was just a little too engrossed in his work, but paper wads? They weren't in elementary school anymore!

Takano zipped his bag and gave him an exasperated look, "You really don't want to go home, do you?"

Ritsu smiled and shook his head.

Takano abruptly stood up and went to open the door to his own apartment. Well, if Ritsu didn't want to go home, then who was he to deprive the man of his company? He was sleepy, and they had work tomorrow. Ritsu would just have to spend the night with him. He waited for the familiar 'click' of the key turning, before turning around to look at Ritsu, "Oy! The floor is no place to sleep."

Takano tried to hold himself in check, but this moment was just too perfect. He slowly leaned towards Ritsu, slowly brought his face close to the sleeping figure. "You stink of alcohol." He whispered as he kissed him on his forehead.

He looked at the peaceful smile on his face, and smiled softly himself. He placed his fingers on Ritsu's cheek and traced his hand across his face, his neck and then down to his stomach. His eyes were glazed, should he? Wouldn't it just be taking advantage of the situation? He closed his eyes, and placed his hand down on the younger man's stomach.

The intense look in his eyes turned fierce and he smirked. He fisted his hands and slowly opened out his index finger. He held his hand at the steady, and poked Ritsu in the ribs. He smiled internally as the man groaned, revenge was good. First love or not, there were some things that demanded a little payback.

* * *

><p>When Onodera Ritsu next opened his eyes, it was dark out.<p>

Someone was peacefully breathing down his neck, and a strong arm lay carelessly over his shoulder. The feeling wasn't altogether unpleasant, in fact, he quite liked it. Snuggling back into the pillow, he tried to close his eyes. Wait.

He glared as he stared at the scenery outside the window. This room was getting ridiculously familiar to him. He grabbed Takano's hand and gently moved it away from him, being careful not to wake the man. He moved away from the warm body next to his. He paused for a minute, waiting to see if Takano would wake up. But he just groaned softly before turning the other way.

At least that was one thing over and done with.

He moved from the bed and looked for something to wear – his underwear, his pants, anything at all. Why did this have to happen every time he found himself alone with the man? The fact that it was pleasantly falling into the shape of a routine irritated him even more.

He finally spotted his pants lying a few feet away from the bed. He quickly stood up and moved towards it before groaning and sitting back on his bed, "My stomach hurts." He flinched. Had he run into something? It felt like a bulldozer had run over his stomach.

For that brief moment, he could have sworn that Takano had stopped making his soft little snores, but things went back to normal so fast, that he wasn't really sure of that.

Either way, he had to run to the bathroom. He had overdone the drinking a bit.

* * *

><p>Ritsu stretched as he entered the living room. He wasn't feeling sleepy at all, what time was it? His eyes shifted to the clock on the wall opposite from where he was standing. It read Four AM. That was early.<p>

He felt bored. He moved towards the couch and sat down. This was slightly embarrassing for him. He pulled at his toes and stared at the door leading to the bedroom. Should he leave? Did Takano expect him to wait till the morning? Should he just wake the guy up and tell him that he was going to leave? He shook his head, no, no. He didn't want to wake the man up. He vaguely remembered something about Takano half dragging him back to the building, and he wasn't ready to face the man anytime soon.

Maybe he could just go back to his own apartment? No, he wouldn't do that either. Wait. He got that wrong, it wasn't as if he _wouldn't_, it was more like he _couldn't. _ Wouldn't it be rude to leave without saying anything, just like that?

He groaned and placed his face in his hands. Things had been so much easier even a month back. Now he had to think twice before doing anything where Takano was concerned. Not that he always thought carefully… A faint blush made its way to his cheeks when he remembered how he'd followed Takano to the Convenience Store in nothing but an old and color-drained shorts just the last week.

He slapped himself on the head. He needed to think about anything but that, absolutely anything but that! Walking down that street had become extremely embarrassing ever since that day. He abruptly stood up. He looked around the room a few times, trying to find something to do. Finding none, he decided that randomly pacing around the room was fine. At least it would help to get rid of the thoughts floating around his head.

He clutched his stomach again; he'd noticed in the bathroom that a small bruise had started developing there. What had happened really? The bulldozer idea was sounding too imaginative at the moment. Realistically speaking, he'd probably just knocked into something extremely pointy and thankfully, not sharp. Either way, he couldn't remember anything past the point of him finishing his third bottle. What had he been thinking? There was absolutely nothing to be gained from engaging in a drinking competition with Kisa.

_Vibrate. Vibrate._

Ritsu's eyes moved to the desk in the corner of the room. Right next to the speakers of the computer, there sat a very familiar phone. Who'd be calling Takano this late at night? He briefly pictured Yokozawa. He had been unusually civil to Ritsu for the last few days. But would that really stop him from calling Takano?

He should probably just ignore it either way; this was really none of his business. Those thoughts were what confused him when he found himself standing in front of the desk, staring down at the phone. How had he gotten here so fast?

He blinked and stared at the phone. Whoever had been calling had stopped now. But for some strange reason, he couldn't make himself look away from the phone. Did he really want to see that picture again? All it did was bring back unnecessary and bitter memories. But still… He shook his head and turned away, either way it was Takano's phone. Opening it without his permission would be rude. He leaned back against the desk, and rested his head on the chair next to it. He had to think things through now. Was he really falling in love with Takano Masamune? Compared to the way he was feeling the last few days, the feelings his childhood self had almost came off as a small crush.

Eh? What was he thinking? No way! He hadn't been feeling possessive lately, not at all! He tried to stand up, but his fingers caught on to the drawer on the side of the desk. It had been slightly hanging out for a while now, but now it landed on Ritsu's foot. He tried his best to stifle the scream that had almost made its way out from his throat. He didn't want to trouble Takano anymore then he had to. He stared at his foot before kicking the drawer away. It landed next to him. Bits of paper were strewn across the floor. This would not be fun to clean up.

He leaned down and picked up the piece of paper nearest to him. The words across the page automatically made its way to his eyes. Wait… This was a letter? Takano had been sitting in this desk composing letters? For whom?

He paused. The name at the top of the page read 'Oda Ritsu'. What?

He could feel his hands start trembling as he read through the contents of the page. When had he written these? Was he planning to send them to anyone? Why did he still have them? A million questions ran through his head as he looked at the page.

The contents were strange; they seemed to be something out of a strange dream. Had Takano been dreaming about him? Even then, what did he hope to achieve by writing them in these pages?

"Onodera?" He grabbed the page and stuffed it inside his back pocket and flipped in time to see Takano opening the door to the bedroom, "You were taking so long…"

The man saw the pages strewn across the floor, and his eyes widened visible, "Why…? How?"

Ritsu gave him a small smile, "Haha… I was… I tripped and then… Sorry." He finished before looking at the floor.

There was an awkward silence in the room, Ritsu could feel Takano's gaze on him. Was he mad? Ritsu had turned curious after seeing his name on the page. He thought he was justified in that, but a part of him felt as if he had invaded the man's privacy.

"I'm…" He started, "I guess, I'll be leaving!" said Ritsu, still avoiding the man's gaze. He quickly walked past the man into the bedroom and gathered his clothes. He grabbed his bag, slung one jacket over the shoulder and left the apartment.

* * *

><p>Ritsu closed the door to his apartment and felt himself sliding back against it until he was sitting down on the floor. That was strange. He was so sure that Takano was going to stop him from leaving, but he hadn't. Did that mean he was really angry?<p>

He looked outside the window, at the first rays of the day. He would have to apologize to him properly at work.

Meanwhile - he reached towards his back pocket and pulled out the now shriveled pieces of paper – he would find out what the pages contained.

* * *

><p>It had taken Takano a lot of effort to stop himself from laughing. He had somehow managed to hold himself back till Ritsu had left, but once he was sure the man was out of ear shot, he had burst out laughing.<p>

This was definitely amusing for him. He had never expected Ritsu to actually find those pages. They contained… certain dreams about the man he had had over the past ten years. At the beginning, they had served to do nothing but torment him. He would sit down and think about his dreams all day – he could never get Ritsu out of his head.

But then, a few years later he had discovered that writing them down helped him to focus more on the day. It was an idea Yokozawa had accidentally given him a long time back.

* * *

><p><em>"And then I'll burn it!" The girl screamed, tears streaming down her face.<em>

_Takano stared at her with a blank expression on his face. He was feeling uncomfortable inside, but it wouldn't do to further agitate her._

_He felt Yokozawa shift in the seat next to his. He looked at him from the corner of his eyes; he looked even more uncomfortable than Takano himself. The man squirmed, and his eyes turned this way and that. Once or twice, he'd even tried to stifle a yawn._

_But the girl sitting opposite them paid no such mind to the two of them, she was far too engrossed in her own world, "How could he?" She cried, "I loved him!"_

_Takano nodded in what he hoped was an empathetic manner._

_"Uh…" Yokozawa was shocked. He had no idea how he'd managed to find himself in this situation, "Would burning pictures really help?"_

_She was staring at him. But at least she had stopped crying. Finally, she sniffed, "Then what should I do?"_

_Takano could feel Yokozawa turn stiff next to him. He smirked, this would be interesting._

_"Tell… him?" Yokozawa finally finished._

_"Tell him? I can't face him… Should I.. write to him?" She was frowning now._

_Yokozawa nodded. At this point, he would do anything to stop the girl from talking._

_"Maybe you're right." The girl looked like she was in deep thought. An hour later, Takano and Yokozawa were finally free._

* * *

><p><em>After a week had passed, Takano found himself in the same situation with the girl. Only this time he was blushing as red as a tomato and the girl had a dozen notebooks on her lap.<em>

_"So, what do you think?" She asked._

_"Ah…" Takano tried to think of a good answer, "As long as it helped you?"_

_She nodded and soon she was gone. She wanted to look for Yokozawa, she had told him. After all, it was he who helped her deal with the situation. Takano felt sorry for his friend, but at this point there was little he could do._

_That and he had a small idea himself. It wouldn't hurt to try. Now all he had to do was buy a few small notebooks on his way back home._

* * *

><p>Ritsu felt violated.<p>

His hands were shaking, and the pages he held were half torn. What was this supposed to mean? He could feel himself turning a million shades of red. He was angry, embarrassed, happy and confused all at the same time. It was pretty standard for a day since Takano had entered his life.

He groaned as the papers dropped to the floor. He had to distract himself, he wouldn't let himself think of those… He shook his head. He was doing it again.

He would kill Takano the next time he met the man. Since when was writing explicit fiction about your co-workers a healthy past time? Explicit. The word rang through his head. He cautiously reached out for the next page. He looked around carefully, to make sure no one was watching him. His apartment was empty, he knew that – but he somehow felt as if the entire world was watching him.

He stared at the first few words on the fifth page. He was going to burn this. He was going to burn all these pages, every last one of them. He would later raid Takano's house and burn whatever else he could fine there. After he finished reading them of course. The last part however, was a secret – so he quickly chose to forget about that and concentrate on reading.

* * *

><p>Takano wondered if it was a good idea to bang on Ritsu's door. He wasn't opening it, and his fingers were beginning to hurt from clicking the doorbell so many times.<p>

Also, he could hear Ritsu's soft snores from the other side of the door.

He very lightly rapped on the door, "Wake up."

"No." A sleepy voice answered. Takano pictured the man turning around the floor. Given where he was sleeping, if he decided to move left, "Ugh…" he would hit the wall.

Takano braced himself.

The door opened and angry eyes peered out, "What do you want?"

"You're going to be late."

Ritsu peered around, eyeing the brightness carefully. His eyes opened wide, "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" He snapped at the taller man.

"Was I supposed to?" Takano looked slightly surprised as the door slammed on his face.

* * *

><p>Well, at least they were on talking terms. He was sure Ritsu would never want to talk with him again after he had read his 'thoughts'. Or maybe he just hadn't gotten around to reading them yet. Somehow, Takano doubted that.<p>

Ritsu had avoided him all day, and by avoiding he meant staying ten feet away from the man as and when h could. This included pushing Takano into a crowded train and waiting for the next one to take him to work.

He had somehow managed to reach in time despite the handicap, and Takano had no real reason to ask him why did what he did. Not that Takano didn't know the answer; he just thought Ritsu was being rather childish. It was he who had invaded Takano's privacy and left with pages full of his thoughts in the middle of the night. Also, he had failed to realize that Takano had noticed.

* * *

><p>However, it was something different that disturbed Ritsu. He couldn't look at Takano without visualizing the words from those pages, and that unnerved him. So he chose to follow the man and study him in detail. Could he really do all those things? He felt himself blushing.<p>

He had almost run headfirst into the man when he tripped over his own two legs in the station that morning, a mistake that left him feeling like the human equivalent of a wobbly bottle. He was left staring in despair as the train left without him, and he noticed Takano staring at him from the other side of the door. He was going to misunderstand the situation, Ritsu was sure of it. But what he couldn't explain was why he didn't want the man to misunderstand. But he would have to think about that later, for now he would have to take a cab.

* * *

><p>Ritsu sat at his desk and wondered if subsisting on tea for a whole month was a good idea. His wallet felt strangely deflated and he couldn't focus on his work. He looked at Takano from the corner of his eyes; the man was engrossed in his work. He wished he could work like that.<p>

Meanwhile, Takano spied on Ritsu from where he sat. Maybe he should have prevented Ritsu from taking those pages, he was slightly irritated that Ritsu was reading them, but he had figured that the man would learn a lesson just by looking through those pages. What he hadn't counted on was Ritsu avoiding him like he was everything in the universe the man was allergic to. It bothered him. At least he had one thing to be grateful for – Ritsu hadn't found the things he had written recently. The Oda period gave him imagination, but the 'Onodera Ritsu' papers gave him both experience and imagination. They were, needless to say, a lot more disturbing than their predecessors.

He sighed, maybe he should just apologize to the man? He didn't like not being able to talk to Ritsu.

* * *

><p>Ritsu wondered why Takano was making those hand motions. Was he waving at him?<p>

He placed his calculator down on the desk in front of him and gave the man a curious look. 'What was it?'

Takano was pointing at a piece of paper in his hand. Ritsu narrowed his eyes. He knew what that meant? Why couldn't that man just talk like a - he felt something hitting his head and reached out to grab the piece of paper before it fell to the floor - person.

'_Meet me outside.'_

Ritsu wondered if it was indiscretion Takano was searching for when he threw the paper at him. If that was the case, then a simple mail would have sufficed. He would have preferred that, he was sure. It beat having three pairs of amused eyes glancing back and forth between him and Takano.

He glared at everyone.

* * *

><p>"You're ignoring me." Takano got straight to the point. This surprised Ritsu, especially since he was sure he was acting like he always did.<p>

"You wrote those things." Ritsu replied, a curious look in his eyes.

"I did." Takano was looking serious.

"Do you want them back?"

Takano blinked. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting. And from the flustered look on Ritsu's face, he wasn't probably expecting himself to say that either.

Takano smirked, "Do you want to give them back."

Ritsu nodded vigorously, "I'll drop by tonight and give them back." And with that he was gone.

Takano stared after him. That was strange.

* * *

><p>Ritsu was hungry. He was extremely hungry. All the way home he had been staring at the food displays lining the streets, and as he passed each shop, he felt something inside him die a little. He was broke. Hailing a cab that morning had done it for him.<p>

"Are you alright?"

He glared at Takano. He was hungry, and he was irritated. He could do with less concern and more food right now. He nodded at the man before turning back to glare at everyone and everything on the streets.

Takano sighed, "I'm sorry."

The glare was back again, it was pointed straight at him, "What for?"

"Those pages."

"Oh." Ritsu blushed, he had almost forgotten about them, "Those."

Takano raised an eyebrow, "Are you alright?" If Ritsu wasn't worrying about those pages, then what was he thinking about?

"Huh? Yeah." Ritsu's eyes focused on the boxed lunch displays on the Convenience Store window near their apartments. Takano followed his line of sight.

"Are you… hungry?" He asked cautiously. It had been slightly difficult to ignore Ritsu's constant glances towards food. The man had tried to be discreet, but his head had suddenly developed a habit of snapping towards food whenever it came anywhere within his line of sight. Takano had assumed it was just Ritsu ignoring him, but he wasn't so sure anymore.

Ritsu nodded and said, "No."

"Do you want to have dinner at my place?" Takano watched as Ritsu considered his suggestion carefully. Finally, as their walk neared its end and they both found themselves outside their respective doors, Ritsu agreed.

"I'm going to go take a bath." He said as he entered the room, "I'll be over in a while."

Takano stared at the pages littering the doorway as Ritsu entered. He knew those pages, almost too well. Before he could stop himself, a smirk made its way to his face.

Ritsu turned around and slammed the door shut, "I'll be over soon." He repeated as the sound of heavy footsteps started to fade.

* * *

><p>Takano watched as Ritsu wolfed down the food in front of him. He felt bad, really bad. He felt that he should have noticed this before. He pushed his plate towards Ritsu. The younger man stopped to look at the plate and shook his head. He pointed at the food and then to Takano.<p>

"I'm not hungry." The older man said.

Ritsu shrugged and went back to eating. He wasn't going to eat Takano's share, he wasn't hungry enough to finish two boxed lunches anyway.

Takano sighed and reached for his chopsticks, "Are you sure?"

Ritsu nodded and placed the now empty plate back on the table. The pages from yesterday were in his side pocket, loosely jutting out. Takano looked at it and back to Ritsu. He was beginning to feel a little embarrassed.

The younger man saw where he was looking and brought out the pages. He placed them on the table and pushed them towards Takano. He then calmly got up and started walking really fast.

"Onodera!" Takano called out after him.

The figure stopped, still facing the doorway.

"Do you want to stay over tonight?" Takano wondered if that was the right thing to say in that situation, it probably wasn't. He was sure it wasn't.

"Okay."

He blinked. Ritsu wasn't acting like himself at all.

"Oh."

* * *

><p>When Ritsu woke up, it was dark. A feeling of déjà vu enveloped him. The only difference was that he had fallen asleep on the couch. He lay back where he had slept, and stared at the ceiling. He wanted to know more about those pages. Why would Takano write them? Was there more? Why wasn't he bothered by it?<p>

He glanced at his wristwatch; it was five in the morning. He stretched, he wasn't feeling particularly sleepy. He sat up; he had to find something to do. The silence was driving him mad.

* * *

><p>When Takano woke up, it was seven in the morning.<p>

He thought he smelt food cooking. He smiled and pushed the blanket away from on top of him. He dragged him self out of his bed and all the way to his kitchen,

Ritsu was standing there in a familiar white apron. The younger man noticed him and turned around, "Takano-san, I think we need to talk."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **This chapter was the first part of a two-parter. It was easily going up to 8000 words, so the next chapter will be the rest of this scenario. I hope you enjoyed reading it. :)

Also, I'm really sorry about not being able to update for the past few months. Lots of things have been happening which ended with someone I really respect passing away just yesterday. I somehow managed to write this chapter to make sure I didn't have anymore backlog on the challenge, also writing helps me to cope with things. So, this chapter wasn't as fluffy as the others and I apologize for that. Tomorrow I have to take my dog to the vet again. Either way, I'm just rambling on. What I mean is that, I apologize for not being able to update for so long. And I will try my hardest to update the next chapter sooner.

Thank you for reading. :)


	6. Diary

**A/N: **Hello people! Remember me? Thank you for continuing to read this story even though it looked like I had given up on it! I think it should be obvious by now - but I have given up on the 30Kisses challenge. It wasn't really working for me. :/ I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

* * *

><p>Takano placed one hand on the wall next to him and the other hand on the side of his head. He gave Ritsu a curious glance, as if asking him to go on.<p>

Ritsu stared back – what on earth was that pose all about? He studied the man, was he trying to play with his head?

"Well… wait. Why are you smiling?" He raised an eyebrow. A sense of dread hit him and he turned back to the stove to confirm his worst fears, "Takano-san! Why didn't you tell me before?" Flustered, he switched off the stove while jumping in place.

Takano stared at the man's back – well, he hadn't completely changed after all.

* * *

><p>"Did you want to talk about those pages?" Takano asked as they finished their half-burnt breakfast. Ritsu had been staring disdainfully at the food the entire time he ate, but he snapped his head towards Takano when he heard this.<p>

"Huh? Why would I want to talk about those…" He stopped midway and looked around the room for something to distract himself with. He finally decided fiddling with his socks was a good idea.

"No? You're not angry anymore?" Takano continued – he was, as always, amused by the man's behavior, he seemed to find it strangely endearing.

"No… I mean, yes! No, I mean, I don't mean no! I mean…" He sat up straight and slapped both his hands onto his face three times. It looked painful in Takano's eyes, especially if the red tainted cheeks they left behind were anything to go by.

Ritsu finally started to speak, "I'm an adult, and I think you probably had some reason to write them… like, maybe they helped you or something when you were going through a really difficult time…" His head kept sliding lower and lower as he went on with the sentence.

Takano finally peeped under the table, "You're right." He concluded.

"Huh?" Ritsu jumped up so fast that Takano could feel himself shrinking back into the couch, his heart beating a little faster than before.

"Are you saying that I did something so horrible to you that you had to resort to putting your fantasies on paper to cope with it? And what about what you did to me? You don't see me writing…" Here he stopped, stared at Takano who looked shocked and turned around before sprinting out of the apartment.

* * *

><p>That had been so embarrassing! He had never seen Takano look at him like that before, and to top it all off he had left half his clothes back there! He stared around his bedroom, there had to be something clean to wear here – he could not possibly just have one jacket available for the rest of the year.<p>

An hour later he was nowhere to be seen. The pile of clothes sitting in the centre of the room was squirming, and exasperated cries came from within it, "I'll clean this! As soon as I get some time off! I promise I'll clean you, so please, let there be something clean."

Ten minutes later Ritsu had given up.

He had briefly contemplated buying a new jacket, but the depressing condition of his financial sources had hit him like a brick. There was no choice, he would have to go back to Takano's apartment. That was… he felt himself turning still as he realized that Takano could have already left for work. That would imply the apartment door was locked and that there was no way he could get inside. He sneezed, that did not bode well at all.

* * *

><p>When he was dressed and ready to go, he opened the door to his apartment. He was not looking forward to walking to work and back without his jacket, but… He would never visit Takano Masamune again, at least not until he found out the reason behind Takano's 'shocked' expression. And no, he shook his head as he leaned against the doorway – he was <em>not<em> worried. He took one foot outside his apartment, felt something smooth under his feet and with all the grace he could muster at that point of time, crashed to the ground.

Rubbing his head, he looked to locate what it was that he had tripped on – Takano had left him all his clothes wrapped nicely with a note on top that said, 'Thanks for the breakfast.' Ritsu grabbed the note and tried to tear it into two. Something stopped him though, and after debating for the umpteenth time whether to tear it or not, he slipped it into his bag.

* * *

><p>The stress at work was beginning to get to him now. As soon as he finished something, he realized there was something else left to be done. There was a never-ending pile of paper sitting next to him that needed to be finished, and every time he looked away he could swear the size of the pile was increasing.<p>

That, and the fact that Takano hadn't looked at him even once today. He stole another sideways glance at the man – he was still busy working. He began to feel irritated, if he was that angry about his outburst that morning, he should just come out and say it!

"Are you okay?"

He turned to his right to find a large pair of eyes looking at him curiously. The eyes then looked at Takano and then back to him. Finally, Kisa smiled a wide all-knowing smile, "Trouble?" He asked.

Ritsu almost fell off his chair in an attempt to clamp his hands over Kisa's mouth, "Wha-? Of course not! There's no such thing. There's absolutely nothing!"

"What are you two doing?" Takano's voice rang across the space. They both slowly turned their heads to look at him. He looked like a withered blade of grass swaying in the wind. Ritsu wondered if there was something wrong with his legs. Takano pointed at them both, and before he could say anything, the two men jumped back in their seats and went back to work.

* * *

><p>Kisa was looking at him again. He would not talk him, he would not talk him, he would not talk him, "What is it?" Ritsu asked once Takano had stepped out.<p>

"Did you do something to him?" Kisa asked.

Ritsu froze – was it that obvious? He tried to collect his thoughts – he had said worse things before, maybe this was just Takano feeling ill again? He couldn't possibly have done anything to turn him into _that, _"Ah… Well it was his fault!"

Kisa shrank back into his seat and looked surprised, eventually however he smiled.

Ritsu felt aghast. But he was too tired to complain, so he went back to work. And for the rest of the day Kisa sat next to him, grinning from ear to ear and giving him knowing looks at various intervals. Ritsu couldn't deny that he didn't like that fact that someone knew – Takano had Yokozawa, well he did have An, but he didn't like to talk to her about Takano, not this soon anyway. But Kisa… he looked at the man again, images of him with the tall good-looking man came to his mind – maybe he would understand how Ritsu felt.

* * *

><p>"I am not taking him out on a date." Ritsu glared at Kisa.<p>

They had taken a coffee break when Kisa's stares had gotten too much for Ritsu to handle. Kisa had dragged on the conversation all by himself, coming up with incredulous ideas about office romance – the only time Ritsu had visibly paled was when Kisa came up with the story of them being old lovers who had met again when fate brought them together. Well… that was one way of looking at it. He nodded at everything Kisa said, not wanting to tell him anything if he could help it. Except when he mentioned a date.

"No?" Kisa asked.

"I'm a little low on money at the moment." Ritsu said before he could stop himself. He balked on the inside. That was his reason? That was the best he could come up with?

"But I'm not."

Ritsu sighed, somehow he knew this was going to happen. He turned around to see Takano looking as fresh as a daisy, smiling brightly at him.

* * *

><p>Ritsu felt doomed.<p>

He had already given every excuse he could think of, and some of them were actually true. He really wasn't comfortable with someone paying for his dinner, and he really didn't have anything to wear. Takano however, seemed to have an answer to everything.

He insisted that Ritsu should try out some of his old clothes.

"Don't you throw anything away?" Ritsu had asked.

"No." Apparently Takano was a secret hoarder; Ritsu wasn't surprised really, given his personality.

And that was how he found himself in Takano's apartment, trying out clothes that just about barely fit him, "How long have you had these?" Ritsu asked.

"Since college." He turned to look at Takano, he had expected the man to be wearing a suit, but he was dressed casually. Ritsu was as well, but he had thought it was only because Takano hadn't managed to hoard suits from his youth.

"Where are we going?" Ritsu asked.

"You'll see." Smirked Takano as he tugged at Ritsu's shirt, a hand pointing impatiently towards the door.

Ritsu felt his heart beat fast – Takano looked really happy. More enthusiastic then he had seen him in a while. Was he looking that forward to this outing he insisted on calling a 'date'? Not that he wasn't excited himself… He remembered a time when he would have given anything for this. He shook his head, it wouldn't do to dwell on the past, and he was a different person now. He stared at Takano's back; he wasn't the only one who had changed.

* * *

><p>"We're walking?" Ritsu asked they left the building.<p>

Takano nodded, "Isn't this more like back then?"

"Back… then?" Ritsu's eyes opened, "Well that was because we didn't have a car back then. But, I don't mind walking." He never liked it when Takano mentioned the past. It somehow always made him feel depressed, as if he had done something wrong – but he knew he had his reasons. Things were different now from the past; back then all he had to worry about was school and how to get his 'Saga-sempai' to like him.

He paused, "We're not going to Karaoke are we?"

Takano turned back and gave him a mysterious smile.

"We are definitely not going to a Karaoke place are we?" He sounded frantic now. Thinking back to the past had brought back some very vivid memories.

"What's wrong with that?" Takano asked eventually.

"Two grown men going to a Karaoke parlor?" Ritsu would give anything not to go to one.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Takano said as he started walking next to Ritsu.

"Of course not, what could go wrong?" said Ritsu, his head slumped down as he dreaded the rest of the night.

But they didn't go to a Karaoke parlor; they had stopped at a park near their house after Takano had decided he wanted to get something to drink. Ritsu was curious – where were they going? He was beginning to feel like he was running a fever; his heart was beating unnaturally fast and his head felt hot.

"Takano-san." Ritsu asked finally. Takano didn't look like he was going to start talking anytime soon, and the silence between them was beginning to unnerve him.

"Hmm?" The man replied nonchalantly, still looking at the sky. Ritsu followed his gaze. What could possibly be so entertaining about that? Didn't he see it everyday?

"Did you bring me out so we could sit in the park and drink juice?"

Takano was laughing. Ritsu felt his face morph into a look of hatred – what was so funny about what he had just said, "You did, didn't you?" This was too childish to even be called a practical joke.

Takano shook his head and brought a hand up to his lips to cover his face, "I'm thinking of where to go."

"Oh." Ritsu felt uncomfortable. Was he such a fussy date? Well, back in school it was usually him who pointed out places where he wanted to go. So, Takano was still the same? He looked at the man from the corner of his eyes. He really did look like he was thinking. His eyes were closed and his face pointed to the sky. He was leaning back against the park bench and the can of juice sat on his left leg, he was holding it with two fingers. Ritsu half wondered if the man had fallen asleep.

Soft whispers made him snap his neck back towards the front. He had forgotten they were still sitting in the park. For some strange reason, he felt that people were looking at him. It probably had something to do with the fact that Takano's clothes were a little too big for him and he felt absolutely childish in them, and the truth that he had never been the sort of person to sit in one place quietly for very long, "Karaoke it is then."

He stared as Takano stood up and started walking towards the main street, "Takano-san…" He was scowling again. He heard a child's voice nearby and turned to look at him. The boy stopped where he was standing and dropped the ball he was holding. Oh no. Ritsu got up and quickly left the park, tucking back the sleeves of Takano's long shirt.

* * *

><p>"You know, if you wanted to come here you could have just said that at the beginning." Said Ritsu as he sat down on the black couch lined against the back of the wall, the room was so small he could touch the other side if he leant in far enough.<p>

"I did." Said Takano while opening the Music Menu, "What did you want to tell me?"

That was fast. Ritsu turned his head away – the blank wall looked so interesting to him. That beautiful color, what was it called? Beige. Yes, it looked lovely! He should personally thank the guy who chose that wonderful…

"Onodera."

Ritsu turned his head towards Takano as slowly as he possibly could. His mouth was plastered in a fake half-smile and his hands were trying to find their way under his shirt so he could put them in his pockets. Darn this gigantic excuse for a shirt.

"This morning" Ritsu felt himself stiffen as Takano's face came dangerously close to his, "What did you want to talk to me about?" He could practically feel the man's breath on his face. And this was exactly why he hated coming to Karaoke parlors. There was absolutely nowhere to run, and the walls were probably thick if not soundproof.

Ritsu did not feel like bringing that up now, he leaned back where he sat until he felt his favorite beige wall behind him. There had to be something to distract the man with – the table! He looked towards the table, and finding what he was looking for – he snatched it and turned towards the TV, "So, what do you want to sing?"

Takano sighed as he leaned back in his seat; there was more than one way to make a secretive Ritsu talk, though he wasn't entirely sure how Ritsu would react once he turned sober. That, and taking him home would be difficult. Again.

* * *

><p>Ritsu had one little secret he didn't like to tell people about – he enjoyed drinking a lot more than he cared to admit. And somehow, he was convinced Takano had caught on to that, though what could have possibly given him away he couldn't fathom.<p>

He stared at the table as the waitress placed two more jugs of beer on it. Calling them jugs was probably being a little stingy – what kind of a place was allowed to serve such huge portions of alcohol anyway? Well, if it was just beer it would be fine. He didn't get drunk that easily.

He causally reached for his pitcher, watching as Takano did the same. If he was thinking he could get Ritsu to talk by making him drunk, then he was going to be very surprised.

* * *

><p>Ritsu shook the tambourine around. He was actually having fun!<p>

Another thing about Takano that had changed – he was pretty good at singing now. Ritsu opened the Music Menu as the song finished, "What would you like to sing next?"

Takano was moving strangely where he stood, he shook his head.

"No?" Ritsu looked sad. On the inside, he was gloating.

Takano sat back down on the couch, an arm went around Ritsu's shoulder, "You're not…"

"I'm not?" Ritsu urged him to go on.

Takano clicked his lips, "What did you want to talk to me about?" He asked again.

Ritsu looked at his pitcher of beer from the corner of his eyes, it was half empty. Takano's on the other hand was almost empty by now. He had been the more active of the two that evening, and that had probably made him thirsty.

"You're not…" Takano repeated as he brought his face closer to Ritsu's.

Ritsu's left hand meanwhile moved towards the pitcher. He had become quite good at this over the night – he had done it simply too many times. He grabbed his own pitcher and carefully maneuvered it to place it near Takano's, and then he tipped the edge of the glass and counted till five. He placed the pitcher back where it was and looked again to confirm that he hadn't poured too much. He did not want Takano to get suspicious.

"I'm not?" he asked again.

Takano frowned and leaned back where he was seating, a hand placed on his head. He looked like he had a head ache coming. Ritsu would usually be feeling sorry and given what he had just spent the last one and a half hours doing, incredibly guilty about the whole affair – if he hadn't caught on to the fact that Takano was planning the same thing. Now he just felt smug. And slightly interested, he had never seen an intoxicated Takano before.

"This isn't like old times at all." Said Takano as he reached for his wallet.

"We're leaving?" asked Ritsu, a slight bit of alarm in his voice. Not that he would ever admit it, but he wanted to be the one to take Takano home that day. A little bit of payback for what happened before. That and he wanted to feel useful.

Takano nodded as he went to pick up the phone near the door. Thankfully for Ritsu, he was in the way. The only way to reach the phone was to make Ritsu move, move out the side of the table and pick it up. The other way would be to jump over the table – and he was pretty sure Takano wouldn't try that.

"But we still have a little time left." Ritsu pointed to the snacks and beer still on the table.

Takano looked at him like he suspected something, but didn't say anything. He was definitely having problems standing up, Ritsu could tell, "We still have a half hour left. You should rest a little."

Ritsu felt like killing himself then, he was definitely feeling guilty. Takano had stopped looking at him and opened the Music Menu again, probably hoping to sing off the buzz. Ritsu took the time to take each of the two pitchers of beer in each hand and alternatively sip from each of them. By the time they were both finished, he was feeling dizzy.

The sound of laughter made him glare at Takano, who looked like he was feeling slightly better. It was his fault! Who in their right minds ordered five gigantic pitchers of alcohol and expected it to be finished within two hours?

Takano was pointing to the Music Menu. Ritsu grabbed it from him and opened a random page. He could already feel the desperate urge to sleep. But he was not going to let Takano carry him back another day. Once had been embarrassing enough.

* * *

><p>By the time they left, they were both swaying a little more than they would have preferred – but it was not entirely obvious to the random passerby on the street. Ritsu had flat out refused to talk to Takano and had taken to singing the entire time they were there. Takano had taken the opportunity to sleep. This in turn had made Ritsu feel even angrier with the man.<p>

He was sure he was much cuter when he was drunk.

Takano had similarly slept on the whole way back. Ritsu had been the one to point the cab in the right direction, or what he hoped was the right direction as they came back. It didn't help that looking at Takano had made him want to sleep as well.

"Takano-san." He shook the man as they neared their building. Takano made a strange groaning sound, slapped Ritsu's hand away and went back to sleeping. Ritsu stared at the man – he reached inside his pocket. Stupid sleeves!

* * *

><p>He wondered if the man ate at all. Carrying him had been surprisingly easy. He let Takano slide down to the floor in the elevator and pressed the button to take them to their floor. He could feel a smile make its way to his face. He leaned down towards Takano, raised his index finger high in the air and brought it down in the man's stomach. A poke for a poke. Justice was served.<p>

"Takano-san, wake… up!" he said as he struggled to carry the man back to his apartment. Takano had stopped responding, except for the occasional soft snores that made Ritsu laugh. This was one memory he would treasure for a very long time to come.

Once Ritsu had finally reached his apartment, he let Takano sleep against his leg as he fumbled with the shirt to reach his wallet. Eventually, he opened the door and carefully dragged the man inside.

* * *

><p>Ritsu heaved a sigh of relief. Takano was finally sleeping on his bed. That had taken a while. It had seemed like the more time went by, the heavier Takano became.<p>

He stretched as he checked the time on his watch. It was just about midnight. Well, there was just one more thing he needed to do before he went to sleep. A small smirk made its way to his lips as he returned to his living room; he would have fun with his laptop, a lot of fun.

* * *

><p>When Takano opened his eyes the next morning, the first thing he noticed was the painful headache that made him want to go back under the covers. A faint smell of dirty clothes came from the gigantic pile sitting in the middle of the room, and Ritsu was lying face down on top of it, occasionally shifting his head from one side to the other. Takano groaned as he sat up on the bed, how much did he have to drink last night? He was sure he had drunk about the same amount as Ritsu. Yet he distinctly remembered the man carrying him home. There was a point when he had refused to move – he wanted to sleep in his own apartment, he was used to how unkempt Ritsu's was and it always gave him the urge to clean it up. Ritsu had dragged him inside nevertheless.<p>

He was a strong drinker – he wasn't sure how he had gotten that drunk. He had a vague idea though, and he would definitely make Ritsu suffer for it eventually. He smiled; it had been a good move though. He moved to sit on the edge of the bed and a notepad on the bedside table caught his eyes.

_Takano-san_

_I'll be going to work a little late today._

_Onodera_

Oh no he wasn't.

He braced his eardrum as he went to wake Ritsu. Revenge was going to come much sooner than he had hoped.

* * *

><p>In the end Takano was still worried. What had Ritsu wanted to talk to him about? He had been sure it was serious – he could barely work after that. Depressing thoughts had run rampant through his head and he had spent the whole day convincing himself that no matter what happened he would still be with the man. However Ritsu had refused to speak and he wasn't sure how he could get Ritsu to talk anymore. Especially after the stunt he had pulled the night before. Ritsu had been very pointedly ignoring him the whole day.<p>

He heard the machine clank as a can of coffee came out near the end. Yokozawa stared at the man. Takano stared back. Had he been saying something?

Yokozawa sighed, "Are you even listening?"

Takano nodded as he went to sit down on the couch nearby. He flinched while he tried to sit, his stomach was still hurting. How that had happened, he was reasonably sure. He had been partially awake for that part.

"Did something happen with…?"

Takano was feeling too worried to hide how he felt. He popped open the can and took a long sip from it. At least his head ache was gone.

"Ah well, it'll be fine." Said Yokozawa as he turned to leave, a small smile on his face. Takano stared after him, he hoped so. He looked back to the can in his hand. Had he been too pushy lately?

"Takano-san!" He raised his head to see a worried Ritsu standing before him, "What are you doing here?" Everyone was having a meltdown! This was no time to be relaxing.

"Hu..?" Takano started as Ritsu grabbed him by the hand and started to drag him back to his desk. Or maybe Yokozawa was right, things were going to be fine after all.

He couldn't help but smile as the worried man led him back to his work space, suddenly his mood didn't seem all that bad.

* * *

><p><em>Omake<em>

* * *

><p>He was obviously drunk. And Ritsu was… making horns behind his head? Takano stared at the picture on his table. When had he taken this? He brought it closer to his face to study it. Did he look like <em>that<em> when he was drunk? He could feel a light blush gathering around his cheeks. This was slightly embarrassing.

He looked away from his drooling picture to the bunch of papers gathered underneath. On top of the pile was a small note in Ritsu's handwriting that read,

'_You're not the only one who kept a diary.'_

Takano slowly ruffled through the papers underneath. There was a lot of them... his eyes grew wide as he read some stray words. He carelessly reached for his chair and sat down. This was… about him and Ritsu?

That night Ritsu received a text. It read, '_And you called me explicit?'_ Ritsu had laughed as he'd read that. It had taken an insurmountable amount of imagination to come up with all that overnight. He wondered if he should really turn to writing. But he was happy. It looked like Takano would go back to normal soon, and then he could go back to pretending he wasn't entirely sure of how he felt towards the man. He still couldn't believe he'd almost told him he loved him. Ritsu snuggled back inside the covers, urging his heart to stop beating quite so fast. That night, he had wonderful dreams.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **You shouldn't try to get your respective other drunk! XD Haha.

I hope you liked this chapter. :) And for anyone who may be wondering - no, this story is not over. It's still going to have 30 chapters seeing as that was what I had originally planned. Also, I refuse to say that 'I will update soon!' since whenever I say that I end up not updating for days. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope inspiration strikes soon. :)

If you enjoyed reading it, then please leave a review. :) It may sound cliched but your comments/favorites are in reality what keeps me writing this story. I would love to know what you think! (Empty pitchers of beer all around!) Thank you for reading!


	7. Distance

**Disclaimer: **Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi does not belong to me. It belongs Nakamura Shungiku and her affiliates.

* * *

><p>For the third time that week, Takano Masamune found himself standing in front of Ritsu's door, a finger on the doorbell.<p>

He stood there like that, wondering what he was doing there. There was no point in coming here for a while at any rate, not with Ritsu being away right then. It was not as if anyone would open the door even if he rang it. He checked his watch, it read 2AM. With a final sigh of resignation, he went to open his own door. He had work to get to the next day after all.

* * *

><p><em>You have zero new messages.<em>

Ritsu's phone read when he opened it on the fifth day of his official leave. He could feel a small frown make its way to his forehead. Why was Takano not texting him anymore? Was he sick? Hurt? Lying on the side of the road after collapsing from work?

Or maybe it was just because Ritsu had never bothered to reply to the previous ones he was sent.

He could feel a small weight settle down on his heart. He had wanted to; of course he had wanted to. But he couldn't. No, he _wouldn't._ Not with his mother bending over his shoulder every few minutes to see what he was doing with it. Her curiosity over Ritsu's

'new lover' was driving him crazy.

"Ritsu? There you are! Hurry up, or everyone will start before us!" Speak of the devil.

* * *

><p>Ritsu could feel various eyes on him as he walked into the reception room. He felt awkward and completely out of place. He had never been close to his cousins, and being forced to attend practically a strangers' wedding while unknown girls giggled at him every time they thought he was not looking was wearing him down. At this point, even Yokozawa's cooking classes sounded like heaven to him.<p>

"I still don't understand why you couldn't just bring her along." His mother whispered as they walked next to each other. She wanted to introduce him to someone, probably another one of his father's new associates.

Ritsu laughed nervously, he could feel himself choking at the thought of bringing Takano along to this delightful gathering. His mother would probably faint on the spot. Even as he thought that, his hands made their way to his pocket, touching his cell phone.

_Send something already._

* * *

><p>"<em>Masamune?"<em> Hmm? Takano did not look up from the piece he was proofreading, "_Masamune?" _ He was sure someone was calling him, but that could wait. He had more important things to do.

A sudden large thump on his desk startled him. Papers scattered everywhere and cold, sticky coffee landed on his pants. He could feel his irritation soar, and he turned up to glare at the person who had disturbed him. This would not go unrewarded.

An equally icy glare greeted him back, "Masamune." Yokozawa Takafumi was inches from his face, staring at him like he had committed murder or something of the sort.

Behind him, Hatori looked slightly relieved and Kisa was almost waving at him. His glare extended to them as well.

Yokozawa extended his hands, poking Takano's forehead, "You have too many lines here."

"Huh?" Takano sounded as tired as looked, and he brushed his hand over his forehead, "What are you doing here?"

"I was specially asked for." He paused to briefly look at Hatori, "When was the last time you got any sleep?"

Takano looked at his friend; he was not unaccustomed to that look. He had seen it throughout his time in College, "Last night, I think."

Yokozawa gave him a long, hard look before glancing around the room. There was something missing. He had been getting that feeling for a while, but after looking at Takano's state, he thought he had a general idea, "Where's Onodera?"

"On leave. He should be back next Monday."

Yokozawa whisked out his phone and started typing rapidly in it, "Takano will be taking the day off early today. I'll collect him around eight."

And with that, he left the room, still typing something frantically into his phone.

"Eight is early?" Kisa said just loudly enough for the people still in the room to hear.

Hatori walked over to Takano's desk and started picked up a large pile of papers. Takano looked like he was about to protest, but Hatori walked off before he could say anything. He deposited half of it on Kisa's desk, and handled the other half himself. Mino looked like he wanted to help too, but he was already slightly over-worked, having promised to take care of Ritsu's share of the work for that week previously.

Takano snorted, it was an obvious attempt to hide a smile. He got up; he needed to clean his pants. Yokozawa would pay for the cleaning bill, he would make sure of that.

* * *

><p>Ritsu could feel something in his pocket vibrate. He quickly reached for the phone, excusing himself from the group of elderly gentlemen, all curious about his strange choice of work. They never knew Ritsu loved Manga so much! Did that mean his company would focus on that soon? Quite a change from their usual tradition. Ritsu's father seemed to find it a little difficult to explain how they were still going to focus largely on literature, and his son was doing his work just as a 'hobby'.<p>

The words 'his company' and 'hobby' had irritated him quite a bit. And the thought that his 'new girlfriend' had sent him a text was quite pleasing.

He strode into the nearest washroom and flipped open the phone. His heart skipped a beat, his face turned blue, and he could feel his legs grow weak. There, in front of him, was a aeries of four text messages. All from the same sender: Yokozawa Takafumi.

He cautiously opened the first of the five texts, wondering what earth shattering calamity could have possessed the man to indulge in a one sided conversation with him. Even back when they were not on 'pleasant' terms, he never contacted Ritsu via messages.

The contents of the messages were simple. Did he know what was wrong with Takano? He seemed ill, like he was not taking care of himself. The text was harmless in itself, but Ritsu could feel the accusations as if the ghost of Yokozawa's wrath had climbed through the phone, grabbed on to his throat, and was now dancing out of tune on his head.

The rest of them were… Ritsu blinked. What? "I can't be home tonight, so please have dinner ahead of me?"

Oh. That was… Probably not for him. Ritsu blushed slightly, he had no idea Yokozawa had that side to him, though now that he thought about it, it did seem like something he would say. Or not! This was not the image of Yokozawa he wanted to see! He shook his head rapidly to get rid of that image. But he was glad Yokozawa was serious about someone. He would never admit it out loud, but it made him feel better; both for himself and for the man.

He opened the third text, not knowing what to expect, "That wasn't for you." Ritsu felt amused, of course it was not. Quickly, he opened the fourth one, "Come home soon." He raised an eyebrow. That was slightly… contradictory? Was that for him? Had Takano taken the phone and sent him a text? Yokozawa would never send something like that – it was Takano. He was sure of it.

* * *

><p>He wanted to go home. If he could, he would leave that stupid hall right then. The last four days had been hell. The same old load – those expectations, those looks of condescension, the need to 'live up to the family name'; they had come crashing down on him harder than he had expected.<p>

He was not quite sure of what to think about Yokozawa's texts either. He had never seen this side of the man before. He flipped his phone shut and walked out into the reception hall. 'Just two more days.' He kept whispering it under his breath like it was a mantra.

"Ritsu!" A harsh voice cut through from nearby and he saw his mother walking towards him. Every instinct in his body told him to leave this room behind and run. Why could not they have picked a place in Tokyo to hold this wedding anyway? What was so special about a remote village in the middle of nowhere?

"There's someone who wants to meet you." His mother smiled at him as she dragged him into a new sea of faces – just how many people were attending this wedding?

After another hour Ritsu could feel his head start to spin. He wished An could have come. Then he could have avoided everyone else and just talked with her instead. She was fun to hang around with, and most importantly, she knew what she could expect from him.

Every time his mother took him to meet a new girl, he felt like he was disappointing her. And that made him angry. He did not care about these women. He wanted to go back home. He wanted to see -he took a sharp intake of breath- he wanted to see Takano. He even missed working like his life depended on it.

And this latest girl was slightly pushy, "Ne – give me your number!"

His mother was practically beaming; he could feel the subconscious message creeping into his head. 'Give her the number. Give her the number.'

Ritsu smiled pleasantly, "I can't. I just have my office number with me right now. I don't really remember my personal number." A blatant lie. Anyone could tell he did not want any part in this.

The girl looked slightly disappointed, but his mother was persistent, "Nonsense! Give her your office number then." She smiled at him, a dominating smile.

Ritsu could feel himself at a loss for what to say, he wanted to protest, but he took out his phone slowly and clasped on to it tightly, angry. His freedom was slipping away, again.

"Well?" His mother inquired pleasantly. He could see that the girl looked uncomfortable too, she smiled at him apologetically.

His mother stretched out her hand, as if asking for the phone. Before he realized what he was doing, he handed it over. And then quite suddenly, it hit him, and he wished he had just had a heart attack. His mother was staring at the phone with one eyebrow raised, trying to comprehend what the message meant.

The girl had taken the momentary confusion to slink away into the crowd. And in that sea of people, Ritsu suddenly felt deaf. Of course he had forgotten to close his message box before slipping his phone shut, and of course he had saved Yokozawa's name as 'Yokozawa Takafumi.' And there was no way a woman could be named Takafumi. This would get very interesting.

"Is this Yokozawa-san a friend?" His mother inquired, unsure of how to interpret the text.

"Well… not exactly…." Ritsu started, thinking of how they had more of a 'I'm definitely your boss and you work for me" relationship, though why Yokozawa still thought that, he had no idea.

"So, is he your…?" His mother was blushing now, not sure how to finish the sentence. At heart, she had always been rather conventional.

"Is he my?" Ritsu was curious about what she was thinking now.

"Ritsu, when you said you 'loved someone', did you not mean…?" She was still trying to figure out how to finish the sentence. It was not an easy topic to breach; especially when her only son was the heir to a rather large publication house.

His mother took a sharp breath, looked him straight in the eyes and asked, "Is this person you love, a man?"

Ritsu stumbled over his own two feet. It was an act he was quite unused to since his high school days. He stumbled, he fell and he hit his head. Trust his mother to be that direct with him. He looked at her, a pleading look in his eyes. She did not answer. She simply handed him back the phone and walked away. For the rest of the night, she did not try to introduce him to any new girls.

* * *

><p>"Ritsu?"<p>

Someone was knocking on his door. Ritsu groaned as he touched his head. It was throbbing. Drinking himself to sleep was not a good idea, but with how his mother had been avoiding him for the rest of the night, he could think of nothing better than to have something that would help him forget it all.

"Ritsu?" The knock came again; from the voice on the other side he could tell that it was his mother.

He slowly dragged himself across the room and opened the door. His mother was dressed impeccably, as always. Except her eyes. She had far too much make up on for this time of the morning, he was sure she had not slept a wink.

She looked at him, "Were you drinking?"

He nodded, almost ready to close the door out of impulse. He held himself back at the last minute – this person on the other side of the door was not Takano. She looked quite taken aback at his obvious annoyance as well.

"I…" She fumbled where she stood, "I wanted to apologize." She said after finally gathering her bearings.

"Hmm?" Ritsu could feel his eyes widen in surprise.

"I wanted to apologize that you didn't think you could tell me, that you were… involved with a man."

Ritsu could feel his stomach hurting, a lot. Either he was having a bad dream, or…. He was having a bad dream.

"Have you told father?" He asked.

She shook her head, "I don't want to until I'm sure you've made up your mind."

There were so many things that he wanted to tell her, the most important one being, 'What if I already have?'

"I'll support you." His mother continued, "I can't understand yet, but…"

Ritsu smiled at her, surprised at her attempts to salvage their relationship, "You never needed my permission did you?" She asked him.

Ritsu shook his head no.

He felt bad; he could see that his mother was not happy with his decision to be with Takano. He was not sure how far Takano wanted to go with him either, all he knew was that for that one moment, he knew there was no one else he could picture himself with.

His mother looked at him with a determined look on her face, "I want to meet him, then. I'll reserve my judgment till I do. But I must meet with him."

Ritsu kept smiling and shaking his head until it finally hit him, "Wait. Meet who?"

"Yokozawa Takafumi."

And with that, all semblance of consciousness left his body.

* * *

><p>Onodera Ritsu was convinced that life hated him.<p>

Of all the people that his mother could have mistaken his secret lover for, it had to be the one person who possibly hated him the most. He was not sure how he was going to explain this to Takano, it was all a simple misunderstanding at any rate. His mother had turned red when he had explained the story to her and she had sent him hurtling back home. She was far too domestic for her own good. One phone conversation with Yokozawa over how 'sick' Takano was had convinced her that Ritsu needed to return. Ritsu was not sure if 'lovesickness' of this sort was a real disease. She was quite impressed with Yokozawa, claiming that Ritsu should be careful before 'that charming man' took his love away. She liked that he was tending to the sick, weak Takano.

Ritsu had shrugged it off, he knew Yokozawa better now to know that he would not. At least he prayed for that, it was difficult to completely forget his previous animosity towards him. Either way, she still wanted to meet Yokozawa.

He lugged his suitcase out of the elevator, glad to be back home. But there was one place he had to check before he went inside his apartment. He stopped in front of Takano's apartment and rang the bell. He could hear shuffling noises coming from the inside. Finally the door opened. Yokozawa stood on the other side of the door. He moved aside to let Ritsu into the apartment. The latter went inside, suitcase and all, being careful to avert any form of eye contact with the man.

Inside, Takano was sitting in front of his sofa, a cup of coffee in front of him, "Takano-san?"

The man turned to look at Ritsu. It took him a few seconds, but he finally smiled. Ritsu could tell what was wrong; it was about those texts that were never returned. How many had he received? Thirty? Forty?

"Ah – Takano-san, we need to talk." He tried to smile pleasantly and seated himself in front of the man.

An awkward silence filled the air. Eventually, it was Yokozawa who broke it, "I need to get going now."

"Wait!" Ritsu spoke out before he could stop himself, "I need to talk to you too."

"Why?" Takano finally spoke

Yokozawa looked equally confused, "Me?"

"Just, please sit down." Ritsu tried to not sound quite so nervous, but he really had no idea how to explain the situation. He was thankful Yokozawa had not brought up his mother's strange phone call from earlier that morning.

Yokozawa closed the door to the apartment and came to sit next to Takano. The latter quickly picked up his cup of coffee and placed it on the floor as far away from Yokozawa as he could. Ritsu inhaled deeply and began the story.

Ritsu turned red under the stare from the two men in front of him. Takano look insanely amused, all traces of his previous depression had gone away. Yokozawa looked bewildered – he was not quite sure how he fitted into the whole problem, except for the part where he had picked up the wrong call at the wrong time.

"Your mother wants to meet _me?"_ Yokozawa asked to confirm what he had heard, "Why?"

Ritsu nodded his head, trying his best not to look at the pair, "She thinks you're charming." He mumbled. He could hear Yokozawa cough. How he wished he could sink into the floor right about now.

"We should arrange a meeting together." Takano proposed.

"Eh? What?" Ritsu and Yokozawa shouted at the same time. Takano was just a little too happy with the situation, Ritsu felt.

"I'm not very good with parents." Takano looked to Yokozawa, "You know that."

"Yes, well." Yokozawa was beginning to back down, Ritsu could feel it.

"And since none of my parents will bother with what I do, you might as well come." He smiled again.

"Yes… well…"

Ritsu sighed as he went to fix himself a cup of coffee. Takano was capable, very capable indeed.

* * *

><p>For the first time in a week Ritsu slept peacefully. He dreamt of nice things, his childhood, his favorite books, his dreams, and his favorite scent.<p>

He woke just once during that night. Something soft had been tickling his nose. When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was Takano's hair. He brushed through it lightly while wondering why he felt peaceful. He was not attached to this man; he had learnt a long time ago that believing in something wholeheartedly was painful. If only his heart listened to him once in a while.

And with that, he went to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Takano-san! We'll be late for work!" Shouted Ritsu as he clamored about the place trying to find something clean that might fit him. The clothes he had taken for the wedding were all dirty, and he had not bothered to do any more laundry before that.<p>

"Hmm." Groaned Takano, quite peaceful where he lay.

"Don't 'hmm' me. Get up!" Said Ritsu as he tried to pry the comforter off of Takano. The man struggled to keep it on him. He was acting like a big baby, again. Ritsu had noticed this before, but whenever it came down to it Takano seemed to prefer extra attention. He had been perfectly capable of getting to work on time by himself before he insisted that Ritsu spend almost every night at his place. Though admittedly, he had come in all of his own accord the night before.

"Breakfast! It's going to burn." Ritsu felt himself stiffen as he let go of the comforter and went hurtling towards the kitchen.

"Breakfast in bed?" Takano mumbled before he smiled to himself. He was not sure whether he should be happy that Ritsu was cooking for him, or sad that he was the one doing the cooking. He appreciated the effort though. He tugged the comforter over his head to block out the sunlight. He would wait for a little longer before letting Ritsu know it was Sunday. It would serve him right for not replying to his texts. Within minutes, he was asleep.

* * *

><p><em>Omake<em>

* * *

><p>"No, you can't come." Yokozawa stared at Kirishima. The latter casually looked back, "Why not?"<p>

Yokozawa blushed," I'm going there as…."

"Mama Takano." Kirishima finished.

Yokozawa almost dropped his glass of water. This was not any sort of thing he wanted to talk about over breakfast, "No, no! This isn't a… marriage arrangement!" He had never imagined a day would come when he would have to utter something quite so ridiculous.

"I know." Kirishima smiled. "But I'm coming too."

"Me too!" The third member at their table piped up.

Yokozawa decided that the conversation should end there. The less he spoke about this, the better. Why he even bothered to tell Kirishima at all, he would never understand.

But there were some stories that were just too bizarre to keep to oneself.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know it's a bit different from what I've written before. It honestly came out completely different from what I had originally planned! But, I did have fun writing it. I didn't want to make Mama Onodera seem like a bad person, and I hope she turned out to be a little likable. I wonder if she'll feature more in this story?

Also, I'm thankful for Kirishima. :) He makes for very interesting 'extras'.

Do R&R. And thank you for encouraging me to keep writing this story. I did not want to give up on it, and honestly, I felt intimidated by a few previous chapters and always worry about how I can surpass them. I suppose that is my problem. Either way, enough of my rambling! Thank you again for reading this!


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